Chris Cooley, the dynamic
pro-bowl tight end for the Washington Redskins is one of the most
popular players in the NFL, let alone the Redskins, is also been known
as "the top athlete blogger" by some, has even more to add to his resume.

Hostage Negotiator.

That's right. A local "crime" has brought forth yet another of Chris Cooley's talents.

A little background on the "crime" first.

On August 27th, Washington Post Writer Garry Trudeau wrote a small "call to arms" to all Washington DC area readers:

Give Him the Ax!

Have you seen Chief Zee 's tomahawk?

On
Aug. 9, the Chief -- a Washington Redskins superfan whose real name is
Zema Williams-- set his signature prop down while he was signing
autographs at the Redskins' preseason game against the Buffalo Bills.
When he turned to retrieve it, it was gone -- subject to a prank or
plain petty theft, he believes. "I had that thing for 25 years. Anytime
you saw me, I had my little tomahawk," Williams, 67, told us yesterday.
"I don't see what they would do with it, but I'm sure whoever took it
was playing a trick. I sat in the parking lot long after the game was
over thinking someone would come out with it." But it never turned up.

The
12-inch tomahawk has a slender wooden handle with a rubber blade, and
appears in many photos of Williams since he started attending Redskins
games nearly 30 years ago. "It's my main piece -- it's got Sean Taylor
's number on it and everything," Williams said, referring to the
Redskins safety who was murdered in November.

Williams
isn't offering a reward, but hopes a good Samaritan will bring his
tomahawk back: "If it's out there, please return it. It's a part of me."

It didn't take long for life long Redsksins' fan Christy Cooley (Chris Cooley's wife and former Redskins cheerleader, formerly Christy Oglevee) saw the piece and immediately took action. According Tanner Cooley
(Chris Cooley's brother, who was kind enough to give me the run down on
this whole thing via email), Christy let Chris know about the missing
tomahawk, and wanted him to try to get it back.

Chris told Tanner to put up a post on his blog, Theft of a Tomahawk, stating that Chris was offering a jersey to anyone with information leading to the return of the tomahawk. From Tanner's email:
"Well less than 6 hours later I got an email from the kids friend
confessing his guilt and asked if I would meet him to accept the return
of the tomahawk. I did and sure enough it was the real deal. We gave
the kids his jersey and I called the Chief to tell him the good news."

And a successful hostage negotiation is completed. The tomahawk will
be returned to Chief Zee before tonight's game against the Jacksonville
Jaguars, and the Cooleys intend to video the event.

So, yes, Chris Cooley, Hostage Negotiator.