Cooper Kupp hasn't quite matched the three-year, $45 million contract he signed with the Seattle Seahawks in free agency this past offseason. However, the veteran wide receiver rose to the occasion when his team needed him most.
The Seahawks leaned on Kupp as a key piece of their thrilling 31-27 NFC Championship Game win over his former club, the Los Angeles Rams. Seattle punched its ticket to Super Bowl LX by taking down the franchise that he helped bring a title to not long ago. This was a true full-circle moment for him, and it almost felt surreal.
Kupp took to X/Twitter in the immediate aftermath of Seattle's victory over the Rams to acknowledge the mind-blowing career twist. And by the sound of it, he still couldn't wrap his head around it the next day.
Ex-Rams WR Cooper Kupp revels in crushing Los Angeles' Super Bowl hopes with Seahawks
During his media availability the following afternoon, Kupp was asked if he's had a chance to process what transpired. The response tells us that defeating the Rams to return to the Big Game meant a lot to him.
"It was cool," Kupp told reporters. "For that story to be what it was ... that it had to be through the Rams to be able to get where we wanted to go. In the NFC Championship, in that moment — yeah. The scriptwriters did a great job with that one."
Well, you heard it straight from the horse's mouth. Kupp admitted that beating the organization that took a chance on him as an unheralded prospect from a mid-major school in 2017 is awesome. Especially considering he, a Yakima, Washington native and Eastern Washington alum, did it with his hometown Seahawks.
Talk about a fairy tale for Kupp, who grew up roughly 140 miles from Seattle's Lumen Field. The Super Bowl LVI MVP was a difference-maker for the Seahawks, who conquered the Rams to give him another shot at hoisting the Lombardi Trophy. He even made a lighthearted reference to the viral conspiracy theory that NFL games are pre-determined to express his dreamlike experience.
Now, Kupp and the Seahawks are Santa Clara-bound for a winner-take-all clash with the New England Patriots. Seattle finishing the job would be the ultimate dagger to the Rams and their fans.