Terrell Owens is asking fans to keep his best friend Theron Cooper close in prayer. Cooper went through a tough kidney transplant, and the road back wasn’t smooth.
Here’s the full, fact-checked story behind Terrell Owens’ prayers for Theron Cooper — what happened, why it matters, and where things stand right now.
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What Happened to Theron Cooper? Terrell Owens Prayers Request Explained
This is the short version of a long, hard month for Theron Cooper.
Cooper had a kidney transplant on December 17, performed at Vanderbilt University Hospital in Nashville. What should have been one procedure turned into several. Four additional surgeries followed after doctors ran into unexpected complications.
Cooper had waited a long time for this moment. When Owens asked him how long he’d been on the transplant list, Cooper answered without pausing: four years. That wait ended the moment the hospital call came through, and Cooper traveled to Nashville almost immediately to get the new kidney.
Owens shared the update himself, on his own Instagram Story. He didn’t sugarcoat it. He told followers his friend had “some unexpected complications and 4 additional surgeries” — but also said Cooper was doing well. That mix of honesty and hope is exactly why so many people started praying the moment they saw it.
A kidney transplant is major surgery under the best conditions. Add four unplanned follow-up surgeries, and the recovery timeline gets a lot longer and a lot harder. That’s the situation Cooper has been living through.
Terrell Owens and Theron Cooper’s Friendship: The Backstory
To understand why this prayer request hit so many people, you need the backstory.
Theron Cooper isn’t a casual acquaintance. He currently works as an assistant basketball coach at Kell High School in Georgia, and he’s been close with Owens for decades. Their friendship goes back to Owens’ playing days, and it grew into something more than football — the two built a music venture together called Dirty South Studios.
Here’s a detail most coverage skips: this wasn’t Cooper’s first kidney transplant. He had an earlier kidney transplant back in 2004, while Owens was still playing wide receiver for the Philadelphia Eagles. The moment Owens heard about that first surgery, he got on a plane to Piedmont Hospital in Atlanta to be there in person.
That history matters. It shows this isn’t a new worry for either man — it’s a chapter in a friendship that’s already survived one transplant, years of waiting, and now a second, more complicated recovery.
Latest Update: Theron Cooper’s Recovery and Terrell Owens’ Hospital Visit
Here’s the part most people searching this story actually want to know: how is Cooper doing right now.
About four weeks after the transplant, Owens flew out and surprised Cooper in person. The visit was captured on video — Owens quietly slipping into the hotel room, backpack on his shoulder, catching Cooper off guard before the two embraced. Owens captioned the moment simply: “God is good.”
In his own words, Owens confirmed the update everyone was hoping for:
“He had kidney transplant on Dec 17, so I had to wait to come to see him then some unexpected complications and 4 additional surgeries but he’s good now.”
That’s the latest update — Cooper is recovering, back on his feet, and spending time with the friend who’s shown up for him since 2004. Recovery from a transplant with this many complications doesn’t end in a single visit, but the trajectory, according to Owens, is a good one.
Prayers for Theron Cooper’s Healing and Terrell Owens’ Strength
Whether or not you know Cooper personally, prayer is one of the most natural ways to respond to a story like this. Here are three short prayers you can use for his continued healing and recovery.
1. A Prayer for Full Healing God, let Theron’s body finish healing completely. Give his medical team wisdom at every follow-up. Turn this hard season into a testimony of Your faithfulness. Amen.
2. A Prayer for Strength Through Recovery Father, give Theron strength for the slow days and the setbacks. Let each small step forward count as real progress. Carry what he can’t carry on his own right now. Amen.
3. A Prayer for Terrell Owens Lord, strengthen Terrell as he supports his friend through this. Give him rest when the worry feels heavy. Bless a friendship that keeps showing up, decade after decade. Amen.
FAQs
How did Terrell Owens lose 70 million dollars?
Owens earned close to $80 million during his 15-season NFL career between salary and endorsements. He’s said the loss came down to trusting the wrong people with his money — financial advisors who put his earnings into risky, highly leveraged investments, plus real estate deals that fell apart after the 2008 financial crisis. Owens has also said money went missing from accounts opened under his power of attorney without his knowledge. Today, his reported net worth sits around $500,000.
Who hit Terrell Owens on The Star?
In September 2000, while playing for the San Francisco 49ers, Owens celebrated a touchdown by standing on the Dallas Cowboys’ midfield star logo. Cowboys safety George Teague ran the length of the field and knocked Owens off the star, sparking a brawl between both teams. It remains one of the most talked-about moments in the Owens-Cowboys rivalry.
What are some of Terrell Owens’ controversies?
Owens has been at the center of several public controversies throughout his career and after it, including locker-room conflicts with teammates and coaches, public criticism of quarterbacks he played with, a 2006 hospitalization that was widely reported as a possible overdose, a brief and highly publicized 2014 marriage that ended within days, and a 2022 CVS parking lot altercation he described as self-defense.
What happened to Terrell Owens in 2018?
Owens was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2018, but he chose to boycott the official ceremony in Canton, Ohio. Instead, he held his own induction speech at his alma mater, the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. Owens said the boycott was a protest against the Hall’s sportswriter-led voting process, which had kept him out during his first two years of eligibility.
Did Terrell Owens ever marry?
Yes, briefly. Owens married Rachel Snider in a private ceremony in January 2014. The marriage lasted only a matter of days before the two separated, and Owens filed for divorce shortly after. He has since remained unmarried and has five children from different relationships.
Conclusion
Terrell Owens’ prayers for Theron Cooper tell a story about loyalty as much as recovery. A friendship that started decades ago, survived one kidney transplant in 2004, and is now carrying both men through a second, harder one.
The latest update is a good one — Cooper is healing, and Owens made sure the world knew it. Keep both men in your thoughts as recovery continues.
Abroy Hassan is the founder and writer behind Morning Prayer Hub, where he shares daily prayers and devotionals to help readers begin each day with faith, gratitude, and a quiet mind. He writes with a simple goal: to make prayer feel accessible, personal, and part of everyday life.
