Does anyone here remember Blackjack? I’m not talking about the game. I’m talking about the proposed nickname for the Seattle Seahawks receiving tandem of Jaxon Smith-Njigba and Cooper Kupp. I could swear that somebody somewhere proposed this after John Schneider brought Kupp to town as a free agent last March.
The idea was simple. The Seahawks already had an ace in JSN. Now, they had King Kupp joining him. An ace and a king. Blackjack.
It obviously didn’t catch on, based on the fact that I’m not sure whether it was real or I’m just making it up. And don’t bother trying a Google search. If you type “blackjack” and anything remotely related to the Seahawks, your first ten thousand hits will be offers to gamble on the game.
Seattle Seahawks wide receiver Cooper Kupp is impressed by the Ginger Cuz
For your information, I’m waiting for the odds on Robbie Ouzts scoring the first touchdown to climb just a bit higher before I place that prop bet.
So, Blackjack is not a legit nickname. But there are others. We learned about a few – and how Cooper Kupp feels about them – when Seattle's veteran receiver made an appearance with the Kelce brothers on their podcast, New Heights, in the week leading up to the Super Bowl.
Travis Kelce asked Kupp what it has been like playing alongside Sam Darnold as the Seahawks’ QB continues the redemption tour he began last season in Minnesota. Then Travis’ brother Jason threw in the nickname “Ginger Cuz.”
“He’s the man,” Kupp said of his quarterback.
Kupp has been around. He has witnessed the ups and downs of NFL quarterbacks firsthand. He saw Jared Goff as a young QB go to the Pro Bowl and to the Super Bowl with the Rams and still be deemed not good enough.
He saw Matt Stafford arrive from Detroit carrying the burden of never having won anything of note. And he helped Stafford hoist the Lombardi Trophy.
And he clearly knows his new QB very well. As he spoke about Darnold. Kupp ran through the entire career – from New York to Carolina, with Kyle Shanahan in San Francisco and Kevin O’Connell in Minnesota – before concluding…
“All the scarring that happens … everything that’s put on you saying ‘you aren’t this anymore … you’re not that guy… to come here and just ball out like this, it’s just incredible.”
Jason agreed. “It’s hard not to root for the Ginger Cuz.”
Then, things took a turn when Jason asked Kupp, “What’s a better nickname...Ginger Cuz or Buddy?”
Now Cooper Kupp has had lots of nicknames throughout his career, but like Blackjack, nothing has really stuck long-term.
White Rice, which sprouted up after his record-breaking 2021 season, was supposed to compare to the GOAT Jerry Rice, but people objected either because the racial component made them uncomfortable, or, perhaps more importantly, because, as great as he was, Cooper Kupp was no Jerry Rice.
I’ve seen other attempts to slap a name on him. I was kind of partial to Third and Kupp, which also gained some traction after his 89 first-down receptions back in 2021, but I haven’t heard that one in a long time.
But as the veteran made clear with the Kelces, though he may not have a current nickname, there is one he absolutely abhors. “Don’t call me 'Buddy.'”
He repeated that point three more times. If you want, you can give him Darnold’s “Ginger Cuz” sobriquet. But don’t call him Buddy.
So here’s what we learned from Cooper Kupp’s appearance with the Kelce brothers. Pay more respect to Sam Darnold, the true Ginger Cuz. “It’s not talked about enough how special and how difficult that is for quarterbacks to do.” (Referring to the way Darnold overcame being written off as a bust.)
And … say it with me … don’t call Kupp “Buddy.”
I figure after Sunday, he’ll be happy enough if you can just call him “Super Bowl Champion.”