Cooper Kupp's 'Incredible Journey' Includes Clutch NFC Championship Game Performance Against Former Team

In his first season with the Seahawks, Cooper Kupp is headed back to the Super Bowl after coming up big in an NFC championship game win over his former team.

Jan 26, 2026 at 08:02 PM

John Boyle

Seahawks.com Senior Reporter

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After the Seahawks beat the Rams in the NFC Championship game, Cooper Kupp received a text message from linebacker Ernest Jones IV.

Before making his decision in free agency in March, Kupp reached out to Jones, his former Rams teammate who was traded to Seattle last season, to ask about the Seahawks. Ten months later, with the Seahawks heading back to the Super Bowl after beating their former team in the NFC championship game, Jones texted his teammate a screenshot of that March exchange.

"EJ texted me last night, he sent me the message he has sent me originally when I had reached out to him," Jones said.

Jones' reply last spring when Kupp reached out?

"He said, 'We are on the cusp of competing for a Super Bowl, we're right there,'" Kupp said. "He sent that to me like, 'I told you right there.' That's what we're all striving for. You try to go out there and win a world title… It's really cool to be a part of this one and be able to build what this has become here. It's just been an incredible blessing."

For Kupp, this has been an eventful year, with the Rams choosing to release him in March after attempting to trade him, ending an eight-year run in Los Angeles. A former first-team All-Pro, Offensive Player of the Year and Super Bowl MVP, Kupp had options, but the Yakima native ultimately decided to return to his home state to join a Seahawks team on the rise under new head coach Mike Macdonald.

Kupp was hopeful that, as Jones told him, the Seahawks could be contenders, and thanks to Sunday's win over the Rams, Seattle's ninth in a row, the Seahawks are not just contenders, they're Super Bowl bound.

"I still don't really have words for it," Kupp said. "It's just been such an incredible journey. Just to see the excitement around here. Being a part of this team, this organization, seeing the excitement that there is around Seattle, how many people are bought into it and all-in on what we've created in this building, and how it's permeated out. It's just really cool to be a part of, and looking forward to going out there in a couple of weeks with an opportunity to seal the deal. It's been really cool."

Kupp has not been Seattle's top target this year—that role was filled by Jaxon Smith-Njigba, who led the NFL in receiving with 1,793 yards—but he was still a critical part of Seattle's success, both as a playmaker when the ball did come his way, and in his leadership off the field. He has also played a big role in Seattle's playoff run, catching five passes for a team-high 60 yards in a blowout win over the 49ers, then making the most of his four receptions against the Rams. While Kupp finished Sunday's game with only 36 yards, he made some incredibly important catches.

Kupp's first catch of the game gained 13 yards on third-and-9, extending a third-quarter drive. Three plays later, Kupp had the key block to help Jaxon Smith-Njigba turn a short pass into a 12-yard gain. And three plays after that, Sam Darnold hit Kupp for a 13-yard touchdown that put the Seahawks up 31-20 at the time, and proved to be the winning score.

Then, in the fourth quarter, Kupp had a critical third-down catch, reaching just across the line to gain to convert on third-and-7 to extend a drive that would see the Seahawks burn 4:29 off the clock, all but putting the game on ice. Without that first down, or at least a catch with enough yardage to make Mike Macdonald want to go for it on fourth-and-short, the Seahawks would have been punting with about three minutes left, a ton of time against a dangerous Rams offense. Throughout the game, Kupp had an inkling he would have to step up in a big moment at some point late in the game. That instinct proved to be right, and was up to the task.

"It was a really cool thing to be a part of, and there was a small part of me that knew at the end of the game, it was going to come down to, 'Man, it's going to come down to me having to make a play,'" Kupp said. "I know it is, so be to be in that place and have the opportunity to make that play, it meant a lot. It was a really cool thing to be a part of."

And none of Kupp's teammates were surprised he came up big in those crucial moments.

"I mean, I've known that he was going to come in clutch," said Smith-Njigba. "Just the way he prepares, he's ready for this moment. Play after play, he locked in on the run game and the pass game. For us to have a guy that we can count on like Coop, it just takes this team to another level.

"I'm super happy for him. Like I said, we wouldn't be the team we are without Coop. Just what he brings on and off the field. He's a true leader, a true warrior, and it's an honor to line up next to him. How he's elevated my game, I can't thank him enough."

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After the game, Kupp caught up with former teammates like Matthew Stafford and Puka Nacua, then soaked in the moment with his wife and kids. With one game left, Kupp's first year in Seattle has been a magical journey, though he did acknowledge there were some mixed emotions given the close bonds he has with some of his former teammates and coaches.

"It was cool," Kupp said. "For the story to be what it was, that it had to be through the Rams to be able to get to where we wanted to go, in the NFC championship in that moment, yeah, the script writers did a great job with that one.

"In those moments, it's hard, because a lot of those guys across the field last night, a lot of those guys are my best friends, lifelong friends of mine, so it's just a weird conflict, a weird thing to work through."

And ten months after Jones gave Kupp a positive review of his time with the Seahawks, he was elated to see Kupp have this moment on a big stage against their former team.

"I'm most happy for Coop," said Jones, who was traded by the Rams to Tennessee prior to the 2024 season, with the Titans then sending him to Seattle in a midseason trade. "I've been in that position, I've been there, I've left that place. I know everything he went through. I know this feels good for him, and I'm happy we were able to do it."