Where did Cooper Kupp go for college?

Even though the Kupp name may not be as famous as most of the other footballing families that have played the game, however, interestingly, Cooper Kupp is in fact a third generation NFL player. As a matter of fact, there are only five such families who have this distinct honor.

His grandfather Jake Kupp was a guard and had a decent career in the league playing for the Dallas Cowboys, Washington Redskins (now Commanders), Atlanta Falcons, and the New Orleans Saints. Cooper’s father Craig also made it to the NFL but had a very short career as a quarterback.

With football DNA in his blood, Cooper Kupp got receiver training at a very young age. As he got older and played football and basketball in high school, his main problem was that he wasn’t big enough. In order to succeed at the higher levels, Kupp had to work harder in the gym and in practice than most of his peers. In his senior high school year, he finished with 60 receptions for 1,059 yards and 18 touchdowns.

What college did Cooper Kupp go to?

Even though Cooper had been working tremendously hard on his physique, receiving game and had an outstanding senior year in high school, he was still unable to secure scholarship offers from universities. He was overlooked by all colleges due to his lack of natural ability. He finished his high school career as a zero star recruit.

It was only three weeks after the final game of the high school season that he received a couple of offers from Eastern Washington University and Idaho State University. As a native of Washington, Cooper decided to attend Eastern Washington and play for the Eagles. The only problem now was that they were part of the FCS division which is not regarded as one of the top NCAA divisions.

Still, Kupp was ready to prove everyone wrong and work his way to the top as the division’s leading wide receiver. In 2013, he played so well that he broke the three FCS division records by a freshman with 93 catches for 1,691 receiving yards, and 21 touchdowns. Over the next three years, Kupp kept up his production rate and eventually finished his college career with 428 receptions for 6,464 receiving yards and 73 touchdowns and also won the Walter Payton Award in his junior year.

Cooper Kupp’s college stats

Cooper Kupp in the NFL

A true testament to Cooper Kupp’s mental toughness lies in the fact that he never gave up. Facing the same road to the NFL as he did during his college days, Kupp felt he had to once again prove his worth after being selected as the seventh wide receiver in the 2017 NFL Draft by the Los Angeles Rams.

Kupp started his rookie season with limited but quality game time as he adjusted to life in the professional league. By year two, Kupp was used to the Rams offense and was on track for an excellent season as he already had 566 yards from 8 games. Unfortunately for him, in a game against the Seattle Seahawks, he tore his ACL and missed the remainder of the season.

Kupp came back strong the following year and established himself as the number one wide receiver for the Rams with 1,161 receiving yards and 10 touchdowns. He had his best season in 2021 when he became one of the driving factors behind the Rams winning Super Bowl LVI. This year was so good that he led the league in three categories namely, receptions (145), receiving yards (1,947), and touchdown catches (16). He was even named the Super Bowl MVP and the Offensive Player of the Year Award. It is considered as one of the best seasons for a wide receiver in NFL history.