Los Angeles Rams WR Cooper Kupp is a terrific underdog story, going from playing at an FCS school to becoming one of the NFL‘s best wide receivers.
Today, he’s a household name who has racked up impressive honors including Super Bowl MVP and NFL Offensive Player of the Year. But not too long ago, he was flying under the radar and didn’t receive a single scholarship offer when his high school career concluded. Let’s revisit Kupp’s journey to the NFL, including his impressive collegiate career.
A Look Back At Cooper Kupp’s College Career
Kupp was born June 15, 1993, in Yakima, Washington. He was a football and basketball star at Davis High School. As a senior, Kupp caught 60 passes for 1,059 yards and 22 total touchdowns.
Kupp isn’t the first person in his family to make it to the NFL. His grandfather is former NFL offensive lineman Jake Kupp while his father is former NFL quarterback Craig Kupp. The Kupp family had three generations selected in the NFL Draft, just the fifth family in NFL history to accomplish that feat.
While Kupp put up great stats in high school, he had zero scholarship offers when his high school career concluded. Three weeks after his final game, Kupp finally received his first offer, and it was from Eastern Washington. With no other options, Kupp committed to Eastern Washington and spent five seasons with the Eagles, including his redshirt freshman year.
Throughout his collegiate career, Kupp totaled 428 catches for 6,464 yards and 73 touchdowns. As a senior, he caught 117 passes for 1,700 yards and 17 touchdowns.
He was incredibly consistent, recording double-digit touchdowns and at least 1,400 yards in all four seasons he played.
Kupp made all of the coaches who passed on him regret it, putting together a remarkable collegiate career. He’s widely regarded as the best FCS wide receiver of all time.
Just a reminder that Cooper Kupp is the greatest WR in FCS history@EWUFootball | @NCAA_FCS pic.twitter.com/tZs4hGmIqj
— CFB History (@CFB_History) February 14, 2022
He earned the Walter Payton Award, which is given to the most outstanding FCS offensive player each season. He was also named the Big Sky Conference Offensive Player of the Year twice and selected as an FCS All-American four times.
The end of his college career was very different from the end of his high school career, as Kupp received a ton of interest from teams at the next level this time around.
Despite being an FCS player, Kupp was picked in the third round (No. 69 overall) of the 2017 NFL Draft. It didn’t take long for him to emerge as one of the most productive WRs in the league.
In 2021, he led the NFL in receptions (145), receiving yards (1,947), and receiving touchdowns (16), breaking the NFL’s single-season record for most yards from scrimmage for a wide receiver.