Seattle Seahawks receiver Cooper Kupp is headed back to the Super Bowl, and he beat his former team, the Los Angeles Rams, to get there.
Revenge games in sports always bring a different level of intensity for athletes, and that certainly was the case for Kupp, whether he showed it or not.
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It was the third time Kupp faced his former team this season, and this time it was with the Super Bowl on the line. As Kupp’s done in every big game he’s played, he delivered.
Kupp was a third-round pick in the 2017 NFL Draft out of Eastern Washington and blossomed into a star in coach Sean McVay’s offense.
The Eastern Washington product had 869 yards in 15 games during his rookie year, and had his first 1,000-yard season in 2019.
Then, Kupp had one of the greatest single seasons for a receiver in NFL history in 2021. The Rams’ receiver collected 1,947 yards and 16 touchdowns on 145 receptions, all setting single-season records.
Kupp’s sensational season didn’t end in the regular season, though. He went on to collect another 33 receptions for 478 yards and 6 touchdowns in the playoffs on his way to earning Super Bowl MVP.
However, Kupp hasn’t had another 1,000-yard season since. He played in just nine games in 2022 and had more than 800 receiving yards, and then collected just over 700 yards in 2023 and 2024.
That’s when things got ugly with the Rams. The Rams drafted Puka Nacua in 2023, and he became an instant star, which meant fewer designed plays for Kupp.
“This year has been very trying,” Kupp told The Athletic’s Michael Silver late in the 2024 season.
Los Angeles fielded trade calls for Kupp in October that year, but nothing materialized, and he remained a Ram, but not in a role anywhere near the one he had in years past.
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After the season, rather than trying to renegotiate a pay cut with the former All-Pro receiver, the Rams released Kupp.
According to The Athletic, Los Angeles urged him to retire, and L.A. officials cautioned potential suitors for the receiver against paying him anything more than the veteran minimum, suggesting his age and injury history caused a steep decline in his performance.
“When it ended with the Rams,” Kupp told Silver earlier this month. “We weren’t in a good place.”
After the Rams cut him, people in the Rams’ organization didn’t call or reach out to thank him for his time with the franchise. However, he has since talked with McVay and many of his former teammates, including quarterback Matthew Stafford, and have maintained a good relationship.
But during Kupp’s free agency, some potential suitors expressed doubts about signing him due to what they’d heard in league circles, which Kupp’s camp believed came from the Rams, according to The Athletic.
That all ended when the Seahawks signed Kupp to a three-year, $45 million deal early in free agency. Since Kupp has made an astounding impact on Seattle’s young team, most notably on young superstar Jaxon Smith-Njigba.
“The first day he came (in OTAs), he preached about ‘the process,’ process over results,” Smith-Njigba told Silver. “And that, honestly, changed my life as a person and as a player. We’re not worried about 200 yards; we’re just worried about play-by-play and doing our job. I can’t thank him enough.”
Kupp hasn’t had a monster season, with 47 catches for 593 yards and 2 touchdowns in the regular season, but he’s come through in the big moments, as he did on Sunday to lift the Seahawks to the Super Bowl.
The veteran receiver had no catches early on, but he finished the game with four receptions for 36 yards and a touchdown, which was the game-winning touchdown.
Then, on the Seahawks’ final drive, he caught a pass at the line to gain and lunged for the first down on 3rd & 7, and then drew a defensive holding call on the next set of downs to essentially seal the deal for Seattle.
The Rams got the ball back with 25 seconds remaining at their own seven-yard line needing a touchdown to win.
“I know he wanted to beat those guys. He won’t show it, but I’m super excited we got this one for him,” Smith-Njigba said. “He was due for a big moment, clutch moments, and we all knew that when he gets his opportunity, he’s going to maximize it.”
Kupp did just that, maximized his opportunity, and will have his Seahawks playing in the Super Bowl, which will be Kupp’s second in six years.
As for the Rams, they’re headed home. Los Angeles hasn’t been back to the Super Bowl since Kupp won MVP in Super Bowl 56.
“They were done with him,” Seattle’s second-team All-Pro middle linebacker Ernest Jones IV told Silver, another former Rams player who felt discarded by the franchise after being traded to the Tennessee Titans before the 2024 season. (They said), ‘He’s not worth it.’ They said that about a lot of us.”
