SAN JOSE, Calif. — Cooper Kupp wants his Hollywood ending to come to an end in Los Angeles. This situation is not common in the NFL.
It’s been an extraordinary year for Kupp. On February 3, 2025, he announced on social media that the Los Angeles Rams had informed him that they would be seeking to trade him, effectively ending his time there. Kupp was a franchise icon and was named Super Bowl LVI MVP at the end of a historic season. He caught the game-winning touchdown to defeat the Cincinnati Bengals and give the Rams their second Super Bowl title. Then, suddenly, he was finished.
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“It was tough. There’s no question about it,” Kupp said Tuesday before the Seattle Seahawks’ Super Bowl LX game, a year after announcing his time with the Rams was over. “You spend so much time together, so much time building so much in one place, and to have that time taken away from you is hard.
“It didn’t end the way I thought it would. That was really tough.”
When the Rams ultimately cut Kupp because they couldn’t find a trade partner, he was 31 years old and had yet to stay healthy or add more than 1,000 yards in the three seasons since his magical 2021 season. But he’s not ready to be finished, even if the Rams are done with him.
Kupp signed with the Seahawks and scored a touchdown in the NFC Championship Game to help defeat the Rams. The win propelled Kupp and Seattle to Super Bowl X and provided some redemption after the Rams cut him.
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“I’m not going to let anyone tell me who I am,” Cupp said.
Seattle Seahawks’ Cooper Kupp spoke to the media on Tuesday about his return to the Super Bowl after winning one with the Rams. (Photo by Chris Grayson/Getty Images)
(Icon Sports Wire via Getty Images)
Cooper Cupp starts over
Kupp is the star for the Rams. His 2021 season was one of the greatest single seasons ever for a player, as he led the NFL in receptions, receiving yards, receiving touchdowns, and won the NFL Offensive Player of the Year and Super Bowl MVP. Not one of the best for a receiver. One of the best for anyone.
Then the Rams decided they no longer wanted him.
The NFL can be a ruthless industry. Kupp was effectively replaced by Davante Adams, who was having a decent season with the Rams. Kupp didn’t perform well with the Seahawks, racking up 593 yards and two touchdowns in 16 regular-season games, but Seattle is happy to have him.
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Seahawks head coach Mike McDonald said Kupp is a priority for the team, especially as he tries to establish a culture in his second season as head coach. On Tuesday, McDonald spoke about Kupp’s leadership and the impact it has had on the entire locker room.
“Every time we were allowed to contact Kupp for the first time, I would put him on the phone,” McDonald said. “I said, ‘Listen, we don’t have a chance to get a player like you,’ especially early in our program. What better player than Cooper Kupp?”
Kupp had a lengthy injury history with the Rams a year ago and was far from the age he promised to play another productive season. But the Rams moving on from him doesn’t affect his perspective.
“I had no doubts about who I was. I believed in myself the whole time,” Kupp said.
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“My belief is I can still play the game at a high level, I just need an opportunity to do so.”
Kupp returns to Super Bowl
In the 2021 season, including the playoffs, Kupp had 178 catches, 2,425 yards and 22 touchdowns. He capped the season with a critical fourth-and-1 play in the final seconds of the Super Bowl against the Bengals and the game-winning touchdown with 1:25 left.
He may not be the superstar he was four years ago, but returning to the Super Bowl is still special.
“You’re happy to be in this place,” Cupp said. “Any opportunity to play in the Super Bowl, that’s what you dream about as a kid. You never dream about catching the ball and playing in the preseason, you always dream about the biggest moments. To be able to get to the top … it’s a pretty incredible thing.”
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It’s been a wild ride for Coop. He said he grew up wanting to play running back at USC, but USC (and most big schools) didn’t want him, so he ended up at Eastern Washington. The Rams reached the Super Bowl in his second season, but he was sidelined by a torn ACL. He became one of the NFL’s greatest stars and a Super Bowl hero with an incredible season, but suffered multiple injuries that kept him from reaching the top again. Then there’s the sloppy end for the Rams and the new start for the Seahawks.
There’s another Super Bowl.
“I absolutely believe I was meant to play this game,” Kupp said. “God created me to be in this place, in this moment, playing this game. I’m just so happy when I’m on the field. A lot of times the ball bounced the way I did and I knew it wasn’t anything I did, the ball just happened to find me. The coverage was perfect. The quarterback’s throws had nothing to do with anything I did, they just put the ball in the right spot. I’m always grateful in those moments. Like, man, I’m glad I got to be out there and be the benefactor of a lot of things.”
“And then I’ve been in that same spot where I’ve had the misfortune to get injured and I didn’t do anything and someone just sent me the wrong way and I fell down. Or the ball didn’t bounce my way, the coverage was wrong, things out of my control didn’t go well. I took the same approach in that spot. None of it was mine anyway. It had nothing to do with me and me and my own self-worth being affected. That’s just the way it is, that’s life, for better or for worse, I know who I am.”
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Kupp has become a huge part of Super Bowl history. His performance last year made his recent trip to the Super Bowl even more significant.
“It’s really special to be back here now in my own story, in my own journey of the least of the year,” Cupp said.
