During his 10 months as a Seahawk, receiver Cooper Kupp has rarely been at a loss for words.
Since signing with Seattle in March, Kupp has become known not only for popping into coaches offices to chat almost daily but also has emerged as something of a team spokesman, called on regularly to speak to the media at the podium during the week and after games.
But Sunday, aside from a brief on-field television interview, Kupp was largely absent following Seattle’s 31-27 NFC title game win over the Rams, having cleared out of the locker room before media were let in after the team’s lengthy celebration. Because he's been so visible, his absence didn't go unnoticed.
Monday, though, Kupp was back at a podium, admitting that in the moment it was almost hard to process all of his emotions.
Not only did he score what turned out to be the winning touchdown for the team he rooted for while growing up in Yakima, doing so with his family in attendance, but he also did so against his former team — a team for which he once won a Super Bowl MVP award.
“I still don’t really have words for it,’’ he said when asked how to describe all that’s happened over the last year.
It’s a year that included being released by the Rams in March after having earlier been told the team was trying to trade him and was moving on, then signing with Seattle and, at age 32, having to start over, but doing so a mere 142 miles (give or take a few) from his home.
But Kupp, as he’s become known to do, then found some words.
“It’s been such an incredible journey,’’ he said. “… It’s been really cool to be a part of (the Seahawks getting to the Super Bowl) and looking forward to going out there in a couple of weeks and an opportunity to seal the deal.’’
As for the Rams, those feelings appear to still remain a bit more complicated.
Kupp has never made secret of how hard it was to accept the decision the Rams made to release him.
“It's been difficult,’’ he said in March on the day he was introduced as a Seahawk. “In all honesty, it's been very difficult and frustrating and there's been lots of questions. It's a real tough situation. I've said, I've always imagined that I'd finish my career there.’’
Kupp has also said several times that he’s since had talks with some members of the organization, such as coach Sean McVay, that he said helped him gain clarity about his release, a significant impetus of which was getting out of salary cap hits of $29.8 million in 2025 and $27.3 million in 2026, as well as his health — he missed 28 games from 2022-24. He signed a three-year deal worth up to $45 million with Seattle with $17.5 million guaranteed,
“It was important enough for me to reach out and try to get that,’’ he said in November. “So, I'm glad to be at that place.’’
And asked last week about having to beat the Rams to get to another Super Bowl, Kupp tried to shift the focus of attention off that storyline.
“Mine (is) just one of 53 that are going to be on that field,’’ he said. “And my story, this is an unbelievable storyline, the chances this ends up being what it is. And I'm really excited about that. So that's the great thing about football. It's all these guys. All these guys have different stories, and we all get to play for one another.’’
A story in The Athletic published Monday, though, indicated at least some tension may still exist.
The story stated that the Rams urged him to retire after last season and that Kupp “came to believe’’ some in the organization warned other teams about paying him anything more than the veteran minimum because age and injury “had provoked a steep decline’’ in his play.
The story also detailed a brief shouting match at an elevator at halftime between Rams and Seahawks coaches during the Dec. 18 game in Seattle, precipitated when a Rams assistant apparently snickered over hearing about Kupp having lost a fumble late in the first half and a Seahawks assistant took offense.
How much of that lingered in Kupp’s mind as the Seahawks won Sunday may be hard to know.
What he acknowledged Monday is the mixed emotions that remain seeing Rams players on the other sideline.
“It’s hard because those guys, a lot of those guys that were across the field last night, a lot of those guys are my best friends, lifelong friends of mine,’’ he said. “So it’s just a weird conflict, a weird thing to work through.’’
Kupp talked briefly to a couple of his closest friends on the Rams afterward, notably quarterback Matthew Stafford, who in a well-viewed clip sought him out after the game to tell him, “Go win your damn Super Bowl kid. You played great.’’
Said Kupp: “For him in that moment to linger out there on the field and come find me, it means a lot.’’
Seattle might not have the chance to win the Super Bowl without him.
After not making a catch in the first half he had four for 36 yards in the second, including a 13-yard TD catch on a third-and-three play midway through the third quarter.
He also caught a pass for 7 yards — to the inch — to convert a third-and-seven at the Seattle 35 on the Seahawks’ final drive with 3:11 remaining.
Kupp lost the ball as he hit the ground while holding the ball up with two hands trying to reach for the line.
Kupp called it a “cardinal sin’’ that he reached the ball out, creating the risk of a fumble.
But he said, “I wasn't concerned about the ball coming out. I knew the ground had forced the ball out.’’
As for the spot, he said: “I felt like it was super close and so I wasn’t too concerned about it if it was short. I don’t know but I had a feeling (Seahawks coach Mike Macdonald) is going for it and we are sneaking that thing across.’’
Told that Macdonald had said on his radio show on Seattle Sports 710 that Seattle would indeed have gone for it, Kupp smiled and said, “So, yeah, there you go.’’
Kupp then helped further seal the game when he drew a defensive holding call four plays later, getting Seattle another first down.
Kupp couldn’t deny that the narrative of him going against his former team was at least a good one.
“Yeah it was cool for this story to be what it was, that it had to be through the Rams to be able to get to where we wanted to go, the NFC Championship in that moment,’’ he said. “The script writers did a great job with that one, tell you that.’’
Afterward, Kupp celebrated the win with his wife Anna, father Craig and his three sons on the field as confetti flew, music played and Lumen Field cheers rang out.
“Just being in those moments, being down there with Anna and my boys, my dad was able to come down and be on the field as well, it was a really special thing,’’ he said.
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