- - Super Bowl 2026: Cooper Kupp, former Super Bowl hero, is back with Seahawks after Rams gave up on him

Frank SchwabFebruary 4, 2026 at 3:47 AM

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SAN JOSE, Calif. — Cooper Kupp wanted his Hollywood ending in Los Angeles. It doesn’t happen that way very often in the NFL.

It has been quite a year for Kupp. On Feb. 3, 2025, he announced on social media that the Los Angeles Rams had informed him they’d be seeking to trade him, effectively ending his time there. Kupp was a franchise icon, the Super Bowl LVI MVP at the end of a historic season. He caught the game-winning touchdown to beat the Cincinnati Bengals and bring the Rams their second Super Bowl title. Then, suddenly, he was done there.

“That was tough. There’s no doubt about it,” Kupp said Tuesday in the Seattle Seahawks’ pre-Super Bowl LX availability, one year to the day he announced his time with the Rams was done. “You spend so much time together, so much time in one place building so much, and to have that taken away was difficult.

“That just didn’t come to a close how I’d have pictured that coming to a close. That was really tough.”

When the Rams finally cut Kupp after not finding a trade partner, he was 31 and hadn’t stayed healthy or gained more than 1,000 yards in the three seasons since his magical 2021. But he wasn’t ready to be done, even if the Rams were done with him.

Kupp signed with the Seahawks and in the NFC championship game he scored a touchdown to help beat the Rams. That win pushed Kupp and Seattle to Super Bowl LX, and offered a bit of redemption after the Rams had cut him.

“I wasn’t going to allow someone else to say who I was,” Kupp said.

Cooper Kupp of the Seattle Seahawks, shown speaking to the media on Tuesday, is back in the Super Bowl after winning one with the Rams. (Photo by Chris Graythen/Getty Images) (Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)Cooper Kupp starts over

Kupp was a star with the Rams. His 2021 season, in which he led the NFL in catches, receiving yards, receiving touchdowns and won NFL Offensive Player of the Year as well as Super Bowl MVP, is one of the greatest single seasons for a player ever. Not one of the best for a receiver. One of the best for anyone.

Then the Rams decided they didn’t need him anymore.

The NFL can be an unfeeling business. Kupp was practically replaced by Davante Adams, who had a good season for the Rams. Kupp wasn’t prolific with the Seahawks, with 593 yards and two touchdowns in 16 regular-season games, but Seattle is happy to have him.

Seahawks coach Mike Macdonald said Kupp was a priority for the team, especially as he tried to establish a culture in his second season as head coach. On Tuesday Macdonald talked about Kupp’s leadership and how that has impacted the entire locker room.

“Whenever the first time when we were allowed to reach out to Coop, I had him on the line,” Macdonald said. “I said, ‘Look, we don’t get opportunities to acquire a player like you,’ especially early in our program. What better player to bring in early than Cooper Kupp.”

A year ago, Kupp had a long injury history with the Rams and was at an age in which another productive season was far from promised. But the Rams moving on from him didn’t affect his perspective.

“I don’t doubt who I am. I believed in myself all the way through that,” Kupp said.

“My belief was that I can still play this game at a high level, and just needed an opportunity to do so.”

Kupp returns to the Super Bowl

Over the 2021 season, counting playoffs, Kupp had 178 catches, 2,425 yards and 22 touchdowns. He capped the season by picking up a crucial fourth-and-1 on an end-around run late in the Super Bowl against the Bengals, and then catching the game-winning touchdown with 1:25 to go.

He might not be the superstar he was four years ago, but it’s still special to be back in a Super Bowl.

“You appreciate being in this place,” Kupp said. “Any chance to play in a Super Bowl, this is what you dream about as a kid. You never dreamed about making a catch and making plays in a preseason game, you always dreamed about the biggest moments. Being able to be at the pinnacle of it … it’s a pretty incredible thing.”

It has been a wild journey for Kupp. He said he grew up wanting to play running back at USC, but USC (and most big schools) didn’t want him so he ended up at Eastern Washington. The Rams made a Super Bowl in his second season, but he was out due to a torn ACL. He became one of the biggest stars in the NFL with an unbelievable season, was a Super Bowl hero, but has also had numerous injuries that kept him from reaching that pinnacle again. Then came the unceremonious end with the Rams and the new beginning with the Seahawks.

And another Super Bowl.

“I believe fully I’m meant to play this game,” Kupp said. “God created me to be in this place, in this moment, to play this game. I have so much joy when I’m on the field. I’ve had the ball bounce my way a lot of times and I know it wasn’t anything I did, the ball just happened to find me. Coverage was perfect. Quarterbacks made throws that had nothing to do with anything I did, they just put it in the right spot. In those moments I’ve been thankful. Like, man, I’m glad I got to be there and be the benefactor of a lot of things going my way.

“Then in the same place, I’ve been in palces where I’ve had the unfortunate injury and it’s nothing I did, someone just got me the wrong way, I fell the wrong way. Or the ball didn’t bounce my way, the coverage was wrong, things that were out of my control did not go right. In that place I took that same approach. None of this is mine anyway. It’s not about me, it’s not about me and my own self worth being affected by it. It’s just how things go. This is how things go, this is life. Whether it’s the good or the bad, I know who I am. That’s been my biggest lesson through these last few years.”

Kupp already is a big part of Super Bowl history. The way the last year has gone makes his latest trip to the Super Bowl momentous as well.

“In my own story, in my own journey of this least year, being able to be able to be back here right now Is really special,” Kupp said.

Original Article on Source

Source: “AOL Sports”