SAN JOSE, Calif. — Cooper Kupp quickly rattled off Robert Woods and Brandin Cooks when asked about veteran wide receivers he turned to for advice during his eight years with the Los Angeles Rams.
The names of Tavon Austin and Sammy Watkins soon followed.
“A lot of guys have had a say and have shown me how to play this game,” Kupp said on Wednesday, four days before he will play in his second Super Bowl. “I’m just really thankful for those guys for being (an) open book for me, because I know I asked way too many questions. But they never got upset with me about bothering them with those things. And so it’s a big part of why I want to be an open book for the guys here now.”
Those guys would be the likes of Jaxon Smith-Njigba, Rashid Shaheed and Jake Bobo, the Seattle Seahawks’ young receiving corps that Kupp guides as elder statesman.
Many questioned whether Smith-Njigba could step into the No. 1 receiving role following the offseason trade of DK Metcalf and release of Tyler Lockett. While Kupp’s 47 receptions during the regular season were his fewest in any season in which he played more than eight games, the 32-year-old’s presence and versatility helped Smith-Njigba flourish into an All-Pro.
“It’s been a blessing being able to work alongside Jaxon. I think he is an incredible football player,” Kupp said. “I’ve had a lot of guys that have put their arm around me and helped raise me up. It’s a big part of why I want to be that same way for guys now.”
Smith-Njigba has gone from 63 to 100 to 119 receptions through his first three seasons. He credited Kupp with aiding in his Year 3 leap to All-Pro and is “going to continue to learn and grow and ask a whole bunch of questions.”
Kupp’s influence has gone well beyond the receiver room. Quarterback Sam Darnold, who earned his second Pro Bowl nod this season, said Kupp’s leadership spread throughout the entire facility.
“I can’t speak highly enough of Coop and what he’s meant to our offense. Not only our offense, but our entire team,” Darnold said. “The mindset that he has. The way he leads by example.
“But if he does say things, he’s one of those guys where the entire room is dead silent. And then they’re super focused on what he’s saying because we know that he doesn’t waste his breath. He’s always going to be able to say something very, very mindful.
“I feel like he’s had a huge impact on all of us in that building. We have a ton to thank for Coop and kind of what he’s brought to all of us here in Seattle.”
Signing with Seattle was billed as a homecoming for Kupp, who was born in Yakima, Wash., on the east side of the Cascades. He went on to star at Eastern Washington before being selected in the third round of the 2017 NFL Draft, so he was immediately embraced as a fan favorite.
Kupp provided some insight into the sting of being released by the Rams last March after eight seasons.
“Just as a human, it’s hard to know that what you’ve been a part of, what you’ve known for eight years, that you can’t be able to be a part of that anymore,” he said. “The most important things to me were those relationships that I had built with so many of the guys on the team and the coaches, people in that organization.
“Knowing that I wasn’t able to come to work with those guys anymore, that was really, really difficult.
“And then there’s the uprooting of your family. Like, ‘Hey, well, work isn’t here, I know that means that we’re working somewhere else.’ And so knowing that my boys weren’t going to be able to be around their friends. My wife (wasn’t) going to be around her friends and her community.
“And so all that is tough. It’s difficult. There’s no doubt about it. But you move forward, you don’t linger on that. You’ve got to be able to move forward. And I think about this journey and being here now.”
Typically introspective, Kupp quickly turned the page to the opportunity in front of him in Super Bowl LX on Sunday. The last time he was on the game’s biggest stage, Kupp earned MVP honors in Super Bowl LVI. That capped a year in which he produced the second most regular-season receiving yards (1,947) in NFL history and caught the game-winning touchdown in the Super Bowl.
Kupp is in a far different role in his ninth NFL season. But it’s an important one as much more than just a mentor. He has nine receptions through the Seahawks’ first two playoff games and will no doubt be targeted by Darnold in key situations come Sunday.
There will be time later to reflect on the professional and personal challenges of departing the Rams.
“I’m here sitting here playing in the Super Bowl, and I’m surrounded by all these new friends. All these new people that I didn’t have the opportunity to know before,” Kupp said. “Coaches that have helped me as a player, as a person. And so there’s a plan for it.
“You’ve got to be able to move forward and know that sometimes good things die and go away. And there’s new things that can grow in their place.”
–Derek Harper, Field Level Media
