Kirk Cousins Trademarks

Kirk Cousins is the quarterback for the Minnesota Vikings and former quarterback for the Washington Commanders (Washington Redskins at that time). He is a three-time Pro Bowler.

Kirk Daniel Cousins is the middle child of Don and Maryann Cousins and was born in Barrington, Illinois on August 19, 1988. He was raised in Holland, Michigan, where he played football at Holland Christian High School. He was also a pitcher and third baseman for the school’s baseball team and played basketball as well.

Cousins suffered a broken ankle in high school attempting to impress scouts at football camp. He did not garner attention from major universities, but when new Michigan State coach, Mark Dantonio, was unable to procure a top-rated quarterback, he gave Cousins an opportunity and a scholarship to Michigan State.

Cousins redshirted his freshman year at Michigan State and played as a backup to Brian Hoyer during the following year. He appeared in a total of five games, recording two touchdowns and a pick. He would receive the starting quarterback role the next season and led the team to a six-loss, seven-win record. In 2010, with Cousins at the helm, the team improved to 11 wins and two losses. The team played in the Big 10 Championship and defeated Georgia in the Outback Bowl. During his collegiate career, Cousins passed for 9,131 yards, 66 touchdowns, and 30 interceptions.

Cousins was invited to the 2012 NFL Combine, where he ran a 4.93-second 40-yard dash and scored a 33 on the Wunderlich test. He would go on to be drafted in the fourth round by the Washington Commanders, which surprised some analysts, as he was the second quarterback to be selected by the team in that draft. However, the team had drafted with that strategy ten years prior and it was a strategy that then-head coach, Mike Shanahan, had publicly agreed with.

The other quarterback taken in the draft by Washington was the 2011 Heisman Trophy winner, Robert Griffin III. As the team had spent considerable capital to acquire the pick to take Griffin, it was presumed that Cousins was an insurance policy, who would, at best, play backup. However, Cousins would see playing time, because Griffin proved to have an injury-laden career with the team. During his rookie year, Cousins played in three games, with one start, and threw four touchdowns and three interceptions.

In his second season with the team, Cousins started in five games for the injured Griffin. During those five games, he recorded 854 passing yards, four touchdowns, and seven interceptions.

During the off-season, he made it known that he would be open to a trade from the Washington Football Team. In week 2, he replaced Griffin, who had an injured ankle, and performed spectacularly. Even though the team would lose the following week’s game, Cousins would still perform exceptionally well. Cousins would go on to throw four interceptions in one game, during the next week. Two weeks later, he was benched for the rest of the season as a backup quarterback for Colt McCoy. During that season, Cousins had 1,710 yards, ten touchdowns, and nine interceptions.

In the 2015 season, Cousins was named the starting quarterback over both McCoy and Griffin. On October 25 of that season, Washington faced the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and Cousins would lead the biggest comeback in franchise history, defeating the Buccs 31 to 30, after having been down by 24 points. He had 317 yards with four touchdowns, one of which was recorded in the final seconds of the game. He also had a total of 33 completed passes during the game, which tied a franchise record.

During his early career struggles, Cousins had received bad press. At the end of the Buccs game, he was famously recorded shouting “You like that?!” to reporters. The phrase would become a battle cry for the team and its fans. Cousins even obtained a federal trademark registration for the phrase “YOU LIKE THAT!” in 2017, to cover use on posters, bumper stickers, hooded sweatshirts, and similar merchandise. Proceeds from the sale of this merchandise were donated to the International Justice Mission.

Just a few weeks later, he would post a perfect passer rating in a game against the New Orleans Saints. In fact, during that same season, he would have the highest completion percentage in NFL history, during his home games. The team made it to the wild card round of the playoffs and for the season, Cousins recorded 4,166 passing yards, 29 touchdowns, and 11 interceptions. He produced similar statistics for two more seasons in Washington, although the team still did not find any post-season success.

In 2018, as a free agent for the first time in his professional career, Cousins signed a lucrative four-year deal with the Minnesota Vikings and became their starting quarterback during the 2018 season. Cousins still actively plays for the Vikings.