Former ECU wide receiver Terrance Copper is about as classy as they come. I had a chance to visit briefly with the current Dallas Cowboys receiver on Thursday and he's still the same ole mild mannered lovable guy I watched play football at Washington High School some seven years ago.

Copper is back in his hometown for the off-season and showed up at the Damien Wilkins All-Star Basketball game to help raise money for the Washington Boys and Girls Club. By the way, Wilkins is another class act. The Washington native and Seattle Supersonics guard loves his hometown as much as Copper does and donated time and money to the Boys and Girls Club. Thanks to Wilkins and Copper a number of area kids were treated to a day of basketball,  roller skating, games, food, free bicycles and a brand new air conditioning unit for the Boys and Girls Club which was desperately needed. And that's just the tip of the iceberg.

When Terrance Copper was asked to join Wilkins he jumped at the chance. Copper told me he has fond memories of playing basketball at the Washington Boys and Girls Club after school on most days and that being able to help future kids experience the club is priceless.

Copper also talked about his own future with the Dallas Cowboys. Back in March he signed a one-year contract with the team worth $425,000 and says that heading into training camp next month he and Patrick Crayton will battle it out for the #3 receiver position behind Terrell Owens and Terry Glenn.

Ironically, on the same day I spoke with Copper about his future with the team the Cowboys cut receiver Tom Crowder. In an attempt to get the roster down to 85 players before the start of training camp the Cowboys were forced to release Crowder. Dallas now has 88 players and need to cut three more before the first day of training camp on July 29th. In a twisted way the releasing of Crowder by the Cowboys is great news for Copper. It virtually assures the former Pirate a third year in the NFL with a chance to make some noise in 2006.

While Copper played in all 16 games with the Cowboys last season he was primarily a special teams player recording 11 tackles in the kicking game. Not surprising since Copper now looks more like a small linebacker than a wide receiver. His workout regiment has added muscle mass to a six foot frame that I would suspect is packed with much more than the 201 pounds listed on the teams roster.

Football season is just around the corner and talking to Terrance Copper has certainly given me football fever.