Greg Cook Gregory Lynn Cook ( November 20 , 1946 – January 27 , 2012 ) , was an American football quarterback . Early career . Cook lived most of his life in Chillicothe , Ohio , where he excelled in baseball , basketball and football at Chillicothe High School . He played collegiately at the University of Cincinnati , once throwing for 554 yards in one game . He was drafted by the Cincinnati Bengals in the first round of the 1969 NFL Draft after Bengals coach and founder Paul Brown saw Cook ' s performance in the Bearcats ' come - from - behind victory 23 – 21 victory against Miami University in Bo Schembechler ' s last game before he left to coach at the University of Michigan . Brown had attended the game , but left when the Miami Redhawks ' lead reached 21 – 6 . " That quarterback . That ' s our draft choice , " said Brown after seeing film of Cook ' s rallying performance . Professional football career . In 1969 , the Bengals released John Stofa , the Bengals ' starting signal caller for much of the team ' s inaugural season , and named Cook as the starting quarterback . His season started spectacularly , as he led the Bengals to a 3 – 0 record . However , in game three versus Kansas City , Cook felt a pop in his right ( throwing ) shoulder after being tackled and missed the next three games . Possibly due to the limited medical technology at the time , his rotator cuff had been torn and went undiagnosed . Despite this , Cook went on to pass for 1 , 854 yards and led the Bengals to wins over the Chiefs and the Oakland Raiders , two of the three best teams in the AFL . His 9 . 411 yards per pass attempt and 17 . 5 yard per completion are rookie records that still stand . Cook was UPI ' s choice for AFL Rookie of the year . Cook recalled , " I took cortisone shots and played in pain , but the shoulder hadn ' t started to deteriorate yet , so I could still function . I still had the strength . I felt obligated to finish the season . I ' d gotten off to a good start . I didn ' t want to relinquish that . " The rotator cuff began deteriorating after the season ; during surgery , it was revealed that Cook also had a partially detached biceps muscle . After three operations proved futile , he retired . A 1973 comeback attempt failed and Cook retired permanently . The NFL Network " NFL Top Ten " series named Cook the # 1 One Shot Wonder in NFL history . Miami Dolphins quarterback Chad Pennington , who suffered two tears to his rotator cuff and has undergone as many surgeries to repair it , is often compared to Cook because their injuries are so similar ; his injury was also similar to that suffered by New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees , who had surgery on his rotator cuff after the 2005 - 06 season and finished the following season as an All - Pro quarterback . He finished his career with 1 , 865 passing yards with an average of 17 . 4 yards per completion . Cook threw 15 touchdowns in his career and 11 interceptions . Life after football . Following retirement , Cook lived in Cincinnati , and worked with United Parcel Service and with Worksite Information Network as a motivational speaker for labor unions . He was an art major at the University of Cincinnati , and continued to paint . Cook has had works on display in the Ohio Governor ' s Mansion . Cook did some color commentary of University of Cincinnati football broadcasts in the mid - 1980s . Death . Cook died on January 27 , 2012 , shortly after being admitted to The Christ Hospital , a Cincinnati - area hospital , with pneumonia .