Justin Cooper is a professional Canadian football

Canadian football

Canadian football is a form of gridiron football played exclusively in Canada in which two teams of 12 players each compete for territorial control of a field of play long and wide attempting to advance a pointed prolate spheroid ball into the opposing team's scoring area...

 player currently playing defensive end

Defensive end

Defensive end is the name of a defensive position in the sport of American and Canadian football.This position has designated the players at each end of the defensive line, but changes in formations have substantially changed how the position is played over the years...

 for the Edmonton Eskimos

Edmonton Eskimos

The Edmonton Eskimos are a Canadian football team based in Edmonton, Alberta. They currently play in the West Division of the Canadian Football League . Edmonton is currently the third-youngest franchise in the CFL, although there were clubs with the name Edmonton Eskimos as early as 1895...

 of the Canadian Football League

Canadian Football League

The Canadian Football League or CFL is a professional sports league located in Canada. The CFL is the highest level of competition in Canadian football, a form of gridiron football closely related to American football....

.

Early years

Cooper played for the Edmonton Huskies

Edmonton Huskies

The Edmonton Huskies are a Canadian Junior Football team based in Edmonton, Alberta. The Huskies play in the six-team Prairie Football Conference, which itself is part of the Canadian Junior Football League and competes annually for the national title known as the Canadian Bowl...

 of the Canadian Junior Football League

Canadian Junior Football League

The Canadian Junior Football League is a national amateur Canadian football league consisting of 19 teams playing in six provinces across Canada. The teams compete annually for the Canadian Bowl...

 and attended the Calgary Stampeders

Calgary Stampeders

The Calgary Stampeders are a Canadian Football League team based in Calgary, Alberta and named in reference to the Calgary Stampede. The Stampeders play their home games at McMahon Stadium...

 training camp

Training camp

A training camp is a place, usually with an army-camp-type environment, where people go to learn skills, usually skills involving physical action rather than book subjects, usually for an armed force or an action sport...

s in 2004 and 2005. He then attended the University of Manitoba

University of Manitoba

The University of Manitoba , in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, is the largest university in the province of Manitoba. It is Manitoba's most comprehensive and only research-intensive post-secondary educational institution. It was founded in 1877, making it Western Canada’s first university. It placed...

 to play CIS football

CIS football

Twenty-six universities across Canada compete in football under the auspices of Canadian Interuniversity Sport . The teams are divided into four conferences, drawing from the four regional associations of the CIS: Canada West Universities Athletic Association, Ontario University Athletics, Quebec...

 for the Manitoba Bisons

Manitoba Bisons

The Manitoba Bisons are the athletic teams that represent the University of Manitoba in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. The football and soccer teams play their games at University Stadium, which also serves as the location of track & field events...

 from 2005 through 2007, where he was a Canada West

Canada West Universities Athletic Association

The Canada West Universities Athletic Association is a regional membership association for Canadian universities which assists in co-ordinating competition between their university level athletic programs and providing contact information, schedules, results, and releases about those programs and...

 All-Star in 2006 and 2007, 2007 first team All-Canadian, 2007 Canada West Most Outstanding Lineman, and 2007 East-West Bowl Defensive Most Valuable Player

Most Valuable Player

In sports, a Most Valuable Player award is an honor typically bestowed upon the best performing player or players on a specific team, in an entire league, or for a particular contest or series of contests...

. His Manitoba Bisons were also the 2007 national championship Vanier Cup

Vanier Cup

The Vanier Cup is the name of the championship of Canadian Interuniversity Sport football and the name of the trophy awarded to the victorious team. It is currently played between the winners of the Uteck Bowl and the Mitchell Bowl...

 winners.

Professional career

Cooper was drafted 23rd overall by the Eskimos in the 2008 CFL Draft

2008 CFL Draft

The 2008 CFL Draft took place on April 30, 2008. 48 players were chosen from among 752 eligible players from Canadian Universities across the country, as well as Canadian players playing in the NCAA....

 and played in all 18 regular season games of the 2008 CFL season

2008 CFL season

The 2008 CFL season was the 55th season of modern Canadian professional football. Officially, it was the 51st season for the league. It was also the first CFL season in which all of the league's regular season and post-season games, including the Grey Cup game, were aired on TSN. This meant the CFL...

including one start and scored his first CFL touchdown in the first quarter of the East Final against Montreal when he blocked a punt, which forced a fumble that he recovered in the end zone.