SEATTLE — To the untrained eye, he was practically invisible.
Halfway through Sunday’s NFC Championship Game between the Seattle Seahawks and Los Angeles Rams, Cooper Kupp — a 32-year-old wide receiver deeply invested in the outcome — was conspicuously missing from the box score, having failed to catch either of the targets that came his way.
It felt as if Kupp, a Super Bowl MVP for the Rams four years ago now playing for a bitter division rival, was affirming the organizational skepticism that led L.A. to release him last March, a cold ending to a mythical eight-year run.
It’s a charged subject that chafes him and has been known to rile up others. A month earlier, the Rams’ perceived disrespecting of Kupp provoked a near elevator brawl between members of the two teams’ coaching staffs in the same stadium. (Don’t worry, we’ll get to that later.)
After the 2024 season, rather than trying to negotiate a salary reduction with the former All-Pro, the Rams had unceremoniously cut ties, urging him to retire. As Kupp approached free agency, sources say, he came to believe that some L.A. officials had cautioned potential suitors against paying him anything more than the veteran minimum, suggesting that age and an accumulation of injuries had provoked a steep decline.
“When it ended with the Rams,” Kupp told me earlier this month, “we weren’t in a good place.”
In retrospect, his former bosses should have known better.
They certainly know better now.
With 68,773 fans roaring relentlessly and an appreciative Seahawks sideline urging him on, Kupp came alive when it mattered most, making three of the most pivotal plays in a 31-27 Seattle victory. The Seahawks scored their final points on Kupp’s 13-yard touchdown reception, got a massive first down in the final minutes on his dramatic, corkscrew-style catch-and-lunge, and essentially closed out the game when he drew a downfield defensive holding penalty on former teammate Cobie Durant.
Kupp also did many of the little things that casual observers don’t notice, but that his coaches and teammates cherish. The bottom line is that without Kupp, Seattle likely would not be heading for a Super Bowl LX showdown with the New England Patriots on Feb. 8 in Santa Clara, Calif.
Thanks partly to his clutch contributions — seen and unseen — the Seahawks aren’t done.
Affirmatively, neither is Kupp.
“They were done with him,” said Seattle’s second-team All-Pro middle linebacker Ernest Jones IV, another former Rams player who felt discarded by the franchise after being traded to the Tennessee Titans before the 2024 season. “(They said), ‘He’s not worth it.’ They said that about a lot of us.”
Said Jaxon Smith-Njigba, the Seahawks’ first-team All-Pro wide receiver: “I know he wanted to beat those guys. He won’t show it, but I’m super excited we got this one for him. He was due for a big moment — clutch moments — and we all knew that when he gets his opportunity, he’s going to maximize it.”
There is a lot to unpack, beginning with the fact that Kupp was not available for interviews after the game, having apparently left the stadium with his family before the locker room was opened to the media. Yet I’ve spoken with him recently about the final months of his Rams tenure and have had conversations with numerous league sources familiar with the situation.
Things degenerated in L.A. when it became clear that Kupp, once a featured receiver, had been surpassed by Puka Nacua, a fifth-round selection in 2023 who became an instant star. As Rams coach Sean McVay evolved his offense, Kupp felt like an afterthought who experienced a sharp reduction of plays schemed to try to get him the ball.
The Rams shopped Kupp in October of 2024 but insisted they were merely fielding calls from other teams — a claim the receiver, according to two league sources, believed was disingenuous. They decided not to trade him after Kupp returned from a high-ankle sprain to help the Rams rebound from a 1-4 start and get back into playoff contention. However, the relationship remained frayed.
“This year has been very trying,” he told me late in the 2024 season.
After the Rams cut Kupp last March, he was stunned that the most powerful people in the Rams’ organization never called to thank him for his time with the franchise. (He later debriefed with McVay and maintains a good relationship with his former head coach — and with many former teammates, including quarterback Matthew Stafford, who searched for Kupp on the field Sunday night to offer his congratulations.)
Stafford and Kupp forever ❤️ pic.twitter.com/aT2ektMYD8
— NFL (@NFL) January 26, 2026
Once Kupp hit free agency, according to sources familiar with his search for a new team, some potential suitors expressed doubts about signing him because of what they’d heard in league circles — which his camp believed came from the Rams.
The Seahawks ultimately tuned out the noise and signed Kupp to a three-year, $45 million deal early in free agency. He made an instant impression, especially with Smith-Njigba, a 23-year-old on the verge of superstardom.
“The first day he came (in OTAs), he preached about ‘the process’ — process over results,” Smith-Njigba told me Sunday after summoning a monster performance (10 catches, 153 yards, one touchdown). “And that, honestly, changed my life as a person and as a player. We’re not worried about 200 yards; we’re just worried about play-by-play, and doing our job. I can’t thank him enough.”
Many Seahawks are similarly grateful to Kupp, a sentiment which added spice to an already charged rivalry between NFC West foes.
The Rams won the first meeting between the two teams in mid-November, and until a furious fourth-quarter comeback, their Thursday night rematch in Seattle a month later seemed to be following a similar trajectory. One of the apparent catalysts for Seattle’s late charge occurred at halftime.
Late in the first half of that game, Kupp’s red-zone fumble had killed a potential Seattle scoring drive. According to several witnesses, the fallout from that play sparked a confrontation between Rams and Seahawks coaches as they spilled out of their upstairs boxes at half’s end and took a shared elevator ride to field level.
The witnesses said several Rams assistants were discussing the fumble in question as they neared the elevator. One offensive coach asked which Seattle player had been responsible, and when another replied that it was Kupp, the coach snickered as though he expected the answer.
The drew the ire of Seahawks outside linebackers coach Chris Partridge, whose enraged response caused Rams defensive pass rush coordinator Drew Wilkins to yell back at him. Partridge, witnesses said, had to be held back by other Seahawks coaches in the packed elevator, averting a possible skirmish.
After the Seahawks coaches entered the locker room, word of the incident got back to some players, many of whom became motivated to defend Kupp’s honor.
“It was kind of a thing in our locker room during halftime,” one Seahawks player recalled.
The Seahawks, after falling behind by 16 in the fourth quarter, made a dramatic rally to force overtime, then won 38-37 on quarterback Sam Darnold’s two-point conversion pass to tight end Eric Saubert. As both teams’ coaches exited their boxes after the game, there was another round of back-and-forth trash talking.
Sunday’s rubber match between the top-seeded Seahawks and fifth-seeded Rams was similarly competitive, although the elevator rides to and from the coaches’ boxes commenced without incident.
When their season was on the line, the Seahawks were happy to ride with Kupp, whose second half validated their decision to sign him. After his quiet first half, which ended with Seattle leading 17-13, Kupp made his presence felt.
With the Seahawks up 24-20 and facing a third-and-9 from their 36-yard-line, Kupp reached to make a difficult catch of a low pass from Sam Darnold (25-of-36, 346 yards, three touchdowns, no interceptions), who further obliterated the QB’s stigma for faceplanting in big games. Three plays later, Darnold threw a screen pass to Smith-Njigba; Kupp’s stellar block on cornerback Roger McCreary helped spring his teammate for a 12-yard gain.
“He’s the best blocking receiver I’ve ever seen,” marveled Seahawks wideout Rashid Shaheed, a trade deadline acquisition who gave Seattle a massive midseason spark. “It’s what he’s done his whole career. He makes us all better.”
Said left tackle Charles Cross: “You don’t see a lot of receivers excited to be part of the run game. He’s truly unbelievable.”
“He takes so much pride in the run game,” Saubert added. “You can see it on the tape. He’s so smart about the game, and he helps all of us. To have a guy like that is uncommon. I can’t say enough about him as a man and a teammate. Whenever his number is called, he balls out.”
Three plays after his blocking clinic on McCreary, Kupp found the end zone. On third-and-3 from the 13, the receiver cut inside of safety Quentin Lake, caught Darnold’s pass at the 5 and bulled past safety Kam Kinchens for the TD.
Seattle’s Cooper Kupp runs through Kam Kinchens for what wound up being the NFC Championship Game’s decisive score. (Jane Gershovich / Getty Images)
The Rams scored on their next drive to cut Seattle’s lead to four, and they were six yards away from taking a late lead. The Seahawks, however, made a fourth-and-4 stop and took over with 4:54 remaining.
Thanks partly to Kupp, they’d kill all but 25 seconds, leaving the Rams without any timeouts and 93 yards from the end zone — effectively extinguishing their season. The receiver’s spinning, third-and-7 catch while being tightly covered by Durant moved the chains with 3:11 to go; Kupp, after lunging for the first down, lost the ball on impact, but officials ruled the play dead.
Four plays later, on second-and-7 from the L.A. 48, Darnold rolled to his left and missed Smith-Njigba on a short throw. Kupp, his first option, was running a deeper route on the left side — and being trailed by Durant, who drew a holding call after grabbing the receiver’s jersey.
The Rams’ season slipped away in the process.
Soon after, Kupp joined his teammates in celebrating on the field, but he bolted not long after the trophy ceremony.
There would be no interviews, but he had made an emphatic statement through his actions. Certainly, he’d delivered a rebuke that stung his former bosses; however, he’d also modeled something uplifting for the Seahawks teammates who consider him an indispensable tone-setter.
When the Rams released Kupp last March, Jones — who’d come to Seattle via a 2024 midseason trade — immediately began recruiting him, recalling, “I texted him and let him know — ‘I understand the situation; I’ve been there. This team that we’ve got here, it’s special. If you come and join us, I believe we’ve got a chance to (go) to the Super Bowl. Not only do we want you, but we want you because you’ll be a beneficial part and help us win this championship.’ He trusted it. So, for him to be here, it’s everything.”
Long after the game, as he prepared to leave the stadium, Darnold tried to do justice to Kupp’s impact — and acknowledged that the receiver’s quiet first half ultimately showcased his best qualities.
“There are no words that can really explain it,” Darnold said softly. “He’s a leader on the field; he’s a leader off the field. He can get zero targets and block (Rams Pro Bowl edge rusher) Jared Verse every single play and never complain once.
“It’s a lesson for kids — not only kids, but players as well. It’s not always going to go your way, but if you just continue to push and do your job, the ball will find you.”
And when that happens, if you are Cooper Kupp, you’ll no longer be invisible — to the casual fan, or to the skeptics who no longer wanted you.