Sam Cooper was known as a "Rooneyman", the unofficial nickname given to the 1933 Pittsburgh Steelers in honor of the team's founding owner, Art Rooney Sr.

Born February 1, 1909, in Venetia, PA, Sam attended Monongahela High School until his junior year. After dropping out of school in 1928, some of his fellow teammates convinced Sam to return to earn his high school diploma so he could join them on the Geneva College football team.

Sam re-enrolled in high school at Mars High School, and, following his graduation in 1929, Sam enrolled at Geneva College, the alma mater of his mother and father. Sam started at tackle for four years. In his senior year, Sam was named captain of the football team and was selected to play in the North-South game in 1932, one of a few small college players to receive that honor.

Sam's gridiron reputation spread throughout Western Pennsylvania, and, in 1932, scouts for the Pittsburgh Pirates (nka the Pittsburgh Steelers) saw him play in the North-South game and signed him as a lineman for $100 a game for their inaugural season in 1933.
Back in 1933, the 32-year-old Art Rooney Sr. had a semipro team. When the Pennsylvania legislature finally approved sports on Sunday, Rooney acquired a National Football League franchise. Rooney used as the foundation of his team older, experienced, semi-pro players, many of whom were just out of college.
Sam played tackle for the Pittsburgh Pirates, who would end the season with a 3-6-2 record. Sam's teammates on the Pirates included Beaver County Sports Hall of Famers Franklin Hood and Forrest Douds.

Sam played professionally only one season and left to become a superintendent at a boys' home. During his career, Sam was a teacher, a coach, and a principal, and worked for a steel company and on a farm.

In 1982, the 50th season of the Pittsburgh Steelers franchise, Sam was honored at halftime of a game, along with other members of the inaugural Steelers team. Sam was inducted into the Geneva College Athletics Hall of Fame as part of its 2020 Legacy Hall of Fame Class.

Samuel "Sam" VanVoorhis Cooper died August 22, 1998, at age 89, in Greentree, PA.