RENTON — Cooper Kupp confirmed as much as day one at his new job dressed for the half.
On the day he signed his contract with the Seattle Seahawks and was launched to media, he wore a flannel shirt with a Pearl Jam T-shirt tucked inside.
Why Pearl Jam?
“They’re from Seattle,” Kupp stated to a lot laughter from a crowd of media, household and Seahawks coaches and staffers gathered within the auditorium within the VMAC.
Now so is Kupp after eight years of terrorizing the Seahawks as a member of the rival Los Angeles Rams.
“I just figured I’ve got a bunch of these old vintage grunge rock band tees. I might as well wear the Pearl Jam one today,” he stated.
He famous that Pearl Jam’s first, and perhaps most well-known, album is known as Ten, which can be Kupp’s quantity and can stay so.
Kupp labored out a take care of outdoors linebacker Uchenna Nwosu, who has worn it the final three years, to donate to Nwosu’s basis and permit Kupp to put on it as a Seahawk. Nwosu is switching to seven, his previous highschool quantity.
Now the query is whether or not Kupp will put on that quantity as properly with the Seahawks as he did with the Rams, the place he gained a Tremendous Bowl MVP award, an AP Offensive Participant of the Yr award and have become the primary participant in NFL historical past to document 600-plus receptions, 7,500-plus receiving yards and 50-plus touchdowns within the first 100 video games of his profession.
The Seahawks are banking on it, agreeing to a three-year deal price as much as $45 million with Kupp final Friday as a key a part of their effort to switch the manufacturing misplaced by the commerce of DK Metcalf and launch of Tyler Lockett.
That Kupp grew up in Yakima and performed at Jap Washington may need made the choice to come back to Seattle a slam dunk within the eyes of many.
However the Seahawks needed to keep at bay some critical makes an attempt by different suitors that included the Dallas Cowboys, who in response to a report from ESPN’s Adam Schefter, had quarterback Dak Prescott name Kupp as a part of their recruiting pitch.
“Yeah, it was cool,” Kupp admitted of being recruited for just a few days.
Kupp stated the lure of taking part in near house and the match with the Seahawks — in addition to a perception that the group is on target — helped clinch the choice, which arrived about 50 hours after he was formally launched by the Rams final Wednesday.
“It’s a really cool thing,” Kupp stated. “Clearly rising up in Yakima, watching the Seattle Seahawks rising up, I’ve talked rather a lot in regards to the recollections and experiences. That’s type of what soccer is. It’s remembering all these huge moments. Strolling by way of the halls again right here, taking a look at these images of iconic (gamers) — simply moments in video games and having the ability to acknowledge, ‘Man, I remember where I was when that happened, when that moment happened.’
“Growing up watching Seattle, watching football being a huge part of my life and then playing at Eastern Washington, (it’s a) full-circle moment coming back and being able to throw on a Seattle Seahawks uniform, it’s a really cool thing. It’s something I don’t take lightly.”
The Rams launched Kupp with two years remaining on a three-year contract extension that was resulting from pay him a median of $26.7 million.
Kupp turns 32 on June 15 and has battled accidents the previous few seasons which have restricted him to only 33 of a attainable 51 regular-season video games because the 2021 season when he caught 145 passes for 1,947 yards.
Kupp revealed in early February that the Rams had been making an attempt to commerce him and that his days in L.A. had been seemingly over.
“It’s been difficult,” stated Kupp, who was drafted within the third spherical by the Rams in 2017 at 69th general. “In all honesty, it’s been very difficult and frustrating and there’s been lots of questions. It’s a real tough situation. I’ve said, I’ve always imagined that I’d finish my career there. But that’s not what the plan was that God had for me and my family.”
Kupp’s wage precluded any commerce taking place, resulting in final Wednesday’s launch. The Seahawks, Kupp stated, had been involved virtually instantly.
“It was pretty quick in terms of expressing the interest once I was released,” he stated. “I thought that as we went through things, I thought that the messaging from (coach) Mike (Macdonald) and from (general manager) John (Schneider), from Kubes (offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak), all the guys I talked to here, the messaging was right on par with what I thought was how you build a championship team. It’s about the people. You focus on bringing good people that are about ball, and all the other stuff is going to fall in place.”
Kupp stated the truth that he’ll get an opportunity to play in opposition to the Rams twice a 12 months “didn’t play into the decision to come here, but it’s a nice little thing on the side to be able to go against those guys.”
Kupp stated exhibiting anybody who doubts he can nonetheless play isn’t a motivation.
He stated it’s nearly exhibiting it himself.
“It’s not about proving anyone else wrong, trying to make anyone else feel bad about anything,” he stated. “It’s just about being myself and being who I believe I can be and going out there and playing the game I love.”
What he principally desires to do is add one other few memorable chapters to the story of his profession for not solely himself however his spouse, Anna, and their three sons ages 6, 4 and 1.
“Stepping into this new adventure, this new place, this new chapter in my career but also in our lives as my wife and I navigate moving back up home, back up to our home state, I think that’s something that we’re excited about facing,” he stated.
As is taking part in at Lumen Discipline this time with the followers on his aspect.
Rooting for the Seahawks is a sense Kupp can relate to, saying he recollects attending just a few video games whereas rising up in Yakima.
His first, he stated, was a Monday night time sport in opposition to Inexperienced Bay in 2006 when it snowed and Shaun Alexander rushed for 201 yards because the Seahawks beat the Packers 34-24.
“I was up in the very top frozen as an icicle up there,” he stated. “But it was incredible watching Alexander went off. It was crazy. I feel like I got to miss school the next day, so it was like bonus points because I didn’t have to go to school the next day. But yeah, memories. I have memories of being there, being part of that environment, and it’s such a cool thing. That was a special thing growing up, to be able to go to a Seahawks game. A very special memory.”
Now to create just a few extra.
