Cooper Kupp


Cooper Douglas Kupp is an American professional football wide receiver for the Seattle Seahawks of the National Football League. He played college football for the Eastern Washington Eagles, winning the Walter Payton Award in 2015 and setting the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision records for receptions, receiving yards, and receiving touchdowns. He was selected by the Los Angeles Rams in the third round of the 2017 NFL draft.
Kupp had a breakout season in 2021 when he became the fourth player since the AFL-NFL Merger to lead the league in receptions, receiving yards, and receiving touchdowns. He was named the Offensive Player of the Year Award and was the MVP of Super Bowl LVI. Kupp joined the Seahawks in 2025, making an appearance in Super Bowl LX.

Early life

Kupp was born in Yakima, Washington. He is the grandson of Jake Kupp, an NFL offensive lineman, and the son of Craig Kupp, an NFL quarterback. His family is one of only five in NFL history to have three generations selected in the NFL draft.
Kupp attended and graduated from Davis High School in Yakima in 2012 where he was a two-sport athlete in football and basketball for the Pirates athletic teams. A two-way All-State selection, he earned first-team 4A All-State honors as a defensive back and honorable mention accolades as a wide receiver from the Associated Press, as selected by sportswriters and broadcasters. Kupp was also named by the Seattle Times as a "White Chip" selection, as one of the top 100 prospects in the state of Washington.
Kupp was a unanimous first-team All-Columbia Basin Big Nine League wide receiver and defensive back at Davis. He finished his senior season with 60 receptions for 1,059 yards and 18 touchdowns and scored 22 total touchdowns to set a school record. Kupp also had 11 rushes for 122 yards and two touchdowns as he helped Davis come one game away from a berth in the Washington State 4A Playoffs.
Kupp finished his prep career without a single college football scholarship offer despite recording 110 catches for 2,100 yards. Three weeks after the final game of his senior season, he received his first scholarship offer to play for Eastern Washington, followed shortly thereafter by an offer from Idaho State.
Kupp was also a three-year letter-winner in basketball. He led Davis to a 23–2 record and won the State 4A Tournament championship during his senior year for the Pirates.

College career

Kupp attended Eastern Washington University, where he signed to play for coach Beau Baldwin's Eastern Washington Eagles football team in 2012 and redshirted that year. Kupp would eventually be named Eastern's Offensive Scout Team Player of the Year.

2013 season

In 2013, Kupp entered his redshirt freshman year as a starter at wide receiver. He finished the season having set numerous single-season school and national receiving records at the Football Championship Subdivision Level. Kupp has set national freshman records for receiving yards, total touchdown catches, consecutive games with a touchdown catch, and receptions.
On November 26, 2013, Kupp was named to the All-Big Sky Conference First-team as a unanimous selection and was also the recipient of the conference's first-ever Freshman of the Year Award.
On December 16, 2013, Kupp was named the recipient of the 2013 Jerry Rice Award, given to the top freshman player in the FCS. Kupp is the first Eastern Washington player and the first player from the Big Sky Conference to receive the award.
Kupp was named a consensus first-team All-American, having been honored by the four major selectors at the FCS level, consisting of the American Football Coaches Association, the Associated Press, The Sports Network and the Walter Camp Football Foundation. Kupp was the first freshman wide receiver to be named as a first-team All-American since Randy Moss in 1996.
On January 9, 2014, Kupp was honored by the College Football Performance Awards with the 2013 FCS Wide Receiver Award. Kupp is the second straight Eagles wide receiver to win the award, following Brandon Kaufman, who won the 2012 award.

2014 season

Kupp finished his sophomore season with 104 catches for 1,431 yards and 16 touchdowns in 13 games. He was named a First-team All-American by the AFCA, AP, and TSN for the second consecutive season. He was also named to the first-team All-Big Sky for the second straight year as a wide receiver while also earning third-team honors as punt returner. Kupp finished 18th in the 2014 Walter Payton Award voting.

2015 season

In the 2015 season, Kupp finished the season with 114 catches for 1,642 yards and 19 touchdowns in 11 games. He broke the Big Sky single-season record for catches with 114, a total that ranks ninth most all-time in FCS single-season history. Kupp was named a first-team All-Big Sky wide receiver for the third-straight year and was also named the league's Offensive Most Valuable Player. He was just the second wide receiver to be named Big Sky Offensive MVP in the last 42 years. Kupp also won the Walter Payton Award, becoming the third Eastern Washington player to win the award and only the second wide receiver to win, after Brian Finneran of Villanova in 1997.

2016 season

On November 30, 2015, Kupp announced that he would return for his senior season after speculation that he was considering entering the 2016 NFL draft. He was poised to break nearly every major FCS career receiving record mark during his final collegiate season. In the 2016 season, Kupp finished with 117 receptions for 1,700 yards and 17 touchdowns. At the end of his college career, Kupp's 428 receptions and 6,464 yards were both the most in FCS history, passing marks previously held by Terrell Hudgins, who had 395 receptions and 5,250 yards playing for Elon University from 2006 to 2009. Moreover, Kupp's 6,464 yards eclipsed Scott Pingel's all-division NCAA record set in 1999, which was accomplished at the Division III level of competition. Kupp's 73 receiving touchdowns also rank first in FCS history, passing the 58 touchdowns that New Hampshire's David Ball caught from 2003 to 2006.

College statistics

College awards and honors

  • College football all-division career leader in receiving yards
  • NCAA FCS career leader in receiving touchdowns and receptions
  • Walter Payton Award
  • STATS FCS Offensive Player of the Year
  • Jerry Rice Award
  • 2× Big Sky Conference Offensive Player of the Year
  • Big Sky Conference Freshman of the Year
  • 2× College Football Performance Awards FCS Wide Receiver Award
  • 4× First-team FCS All-American
  • 3× First-team FCS All-American
  • 2× First-team Division I Academic All-American
  • Second-team Division I Academic All-American
  • 4× First-team All-Big Sky Conference Wide Receiver
  • Second-team All-Big Sky Conference Punt Returner
  • Third-team All-Big Sky Conference Punt Returner

    Professional career

Pre-draft

Kupp attended the 2017 Senior Bowl and made two receptions for 14 yards for the North, who lost 16–15 to the South. Kupp's performance at the Senior Bowl elevated his draft stock. NFL analyst Bucky Brooks stated Kupp was the top performer at the Senior Bowl. He attended the NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis and completed all the combine drills except for the bench press.
On March 28, 2017, Kupp opted to participate in Eastern Washington's pro day along with Jordan West, Shaq Hill, Samson Ebukam, Kendrick Bourne, and Miquiyah Zamora. He attempted all of the combine drills but opted to skip the bench press and broad jump. Kupp shortened his time in the short shuttle to 6.53s and performed positional drills for scouts and team representatives. At the conclusion of the pre-draft process, Kupp was projected to be a second or third-round pick by NFL draft experts and scouts. He was ranked the eighth-best wide receiver in the draft by NFLDraftScout.com. Steve Smith Sr. ranked him as the best wide receiver in the draft class.

Los Angeles Rams

2017 season

The Los Angeles Rams selected Kupp in the third round of the 2017 NFL draft. He was the seventh wide receiver drafted in 2017 and became the second highest pick in Eastern Washington's school history, only behind Michael Roos who was taken by the Tennessee Titans in the 2005 NFL draft. Kupp was reunited with Eastern Washington teammate Samson Ebukam after the Rams selected him in the fourth round. On June 9, 2017, the Rams signed Kupp to a four-year, $3.83 million contract that included a signing bonus of $954,760.
Kupp competed with Sammy Watkins, Tavon Austin, Robert Woods, Mike Thomas, Bradley Marquez, Pharoh Cooper, and Josh Reynolds throughout training camp for a starting wide receiver role left vacant after Kenny Britt departed in free agency. Head coach Sean McVay named Kupp the fourth wide receiver on the depth chart behind Watkins, Woods, and Austin.
Kupp made his NFL debut in the season-opening 46–9 victory over the Indianapolis Colts and recorded four receptions for 76 yards, including an 18-yard touchdown pass from Jared Goff, marking the first of his career. Three weeks later, Kupp had five catches for 60 yards and a touchdown in a 35–30 road victory over the Dallas Cowboys. During a Week 7 33–0 shutout victory in London against the Arizona Cardinals, he caught four passes for 51 yards and a touchdown.
Through the first seven games of the season, Kupp led the Rams in red-zone targets with 11 and developed as Goff's top receiver in the red zone and third downs. Kupp was fourth in the entire NFL in red zone targets behind leaders Davante Adams, Larry Fitzgerald, and Dez Bryant who were tied with 20 red zone targets each. During a Week 9 51–17 victory over the New York Giants, Kupp made his first career NFL start, catching three passes for 54 yards. Three weeks later against the New Orleans Saints, Kupp posted his first career game with over 100 yards, where he finished with 116 as the Rams won 26–20. During a Week 14 43–35 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles, he finished with five receptions for 118 yards and a touchdown. By December, Kupp was a full-time starter at wide receiver and ended his rookie season in 2017 with 62 receptions for 869 yards and five touchdowns in 15 games and six starts.
The Rams finished atop the NFC West with an 11–5 record. On January 6, 2018, Kupp appeared in his first career playoff game and had eight receptions for 69 yards and a touchdown as the Rams lost by a score of 26–13 to the Atlanta Falcons in an National Football Conference Wild Card Game at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.
Following the season, Kupp was also named to the 2017 All-Rookie Team by the Pro Football Writers Association.