Cook Welcomes Chance to Start With Saints

This is one Cook who doesn’t mind turning up the heat, both on himself and on his team.

“This is my third season. I feel I should start. They need to have me on the field,” said Toi Cook, who starred at Montclair Prep and now plays for the New Orleans Saints.

As a veteran vying to become the starting right cornerback, Cook knows that the trick is to keep the heat on without getting burned.

“I can make the big plays. If I don’t start, it’s no one’s fault but mine. I’m going in as the starter; I intend to come out as the starter for the next four or five years and hopefully mix in a few Pro Bowls,” he said. “You give me a chance to play, and in the end you’ll be very happy.”

After two years as a reserve, Cook is slated to start, but he might have ruffled some feathers by moving back to his Westwood condo midway through voluntary workouts this spring. The sultry Southern summer can get a little slow for a guy used to the L. A. cool of the fast lane.

“Right now, I think they’re mad at me,” Cook said of the Saints’ management. “I love playing in New Orleans. I’m totally happy with playing there, but I’m not from the South. I don’t want to live there in the off-season.”

In coming back to California, Cook returned to the site of his prep and college exploits. A three-sport athlete at Montclair Prep, Cook was an All-Southern Section selection three times in both football and baseball and helped his basketball team to a Southern Section championship game.

Cook matriculated to Stanford after his Montclair Prep career and started in baseball and football there. As a senior he helped Stanford to the Gator Bowl in football and the National Collegiate Athletic Assn. baseball championship.

Cook (5-foot-11, 188 pounds) has split his summer workouts between Southern California and Stanford in preparation for the beginning of training camp July 21. While playing pickup basketball recently in Palo Alto, Cook was kneed in the calf by former Stanford football teammate Garin Veris, who plays defensive end for the Patriots, but he is otherwise healthy and eager to put on the pads.

“I get fired up just thinking about going to training camp,” Cook said. “I’m a big Raider fan, but I love playing for the Saints. We’ve got the Dome, great fans, the black uniforms and a great defense.”

After joining the Saints as an eighth-round draft choice in 1987, Cook has steadily moved up the depth chart. He recorded his first interception last year and played in every game. He was also one of 37 players the Saints protected under the free agency system.

Having played mainly on special teams and gimmick defenses during his first two seasons, Cook now figures he is finished with that nickle-and-dime stuff.

“Before, when I first came to college, I just wanted to play pro ball. Now there are things I want, and to obtain them I need money,” Cook said. “By the time I’m 30 I definitely want to be worth a million, and it all hinges on my ability to play the sport.”

Cook began planning for his future even before he declared a communications major at Stanford.

“I want to get into TV,” he said. “I think what I want to do is take Ahmad Rashad’s route. I think I can broadcast two sports. From there, I want to go to the movies.

“I want to have a Ronnie Lott career football-wise and an Ahmad Rashad career broadcast-wise.”