On Sunday, the Los Angeles Rams won a stunning last-minute victory over Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the NFL playoffs, thanks in part to the incredible efforts of star wide receiver Cooper Kupp who had nine catches for 183 yards and a score.
In the final minute of the game, Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford relied on his top asset to get the team in scoring position. He threw two amazing passes of 20 and 44 yards to Kupp to set up the game-winning field goal for the Rams.
This season Kupp became the fourth player in NFL history to earn the triple crown with 145 receptions, 1,947 receiving yards, and 16 receiving touchdowns, all of which led the league.
The 28-year-old and his wife Anna, who first met in high school, have relied on each other and their Christian faith since the start of his football career.
“We just were so aligned in terms of what our goals were and what we wanted to do moving forward and what we wanted to be about as a couple,” Cooper told ESPN. “And the belief that football was the community, was the place that I was supposed to be, that we were supposed to be, and that’s where God placed us.”
While they attended Eastern Washington University, Anna worked at a restaurant to help pay for their college expenses. Cooper had simply become too tired from working his job to keep playing his best at football.
“I supported us monetarily through college,” Anna said. “I was working full time so that he didn’t have to worry about that so that he could focus.”
Cooper praised Anna for pushing him to work hard.
“Without a doubt, there’s no doubt in my mind, not only would I not be here where I am today without her or accomplishing the things that I would be doing,” Cooper admitted. “I really believe I may not be in this … I may not be in the NFL if it wasn’t for her and what she has inspired in me and pushed me to do.”
The two were married on June 20, 2015, after their sophomore year of college.
While Cooper played for Eastern Washington, Anna encouraged her husband by challenging him in the weight room, and she would also work out on the field.
“I’d go and do a CrossFit workout with her and she would just run laps around me in these workouts,” Cooper said. “I mean, it is unbelievable.”
He added, “Being able to find time to be together and find meaningful time together, but also getting things done … I’m just so appreciative. Appreciative of her and her willingness to do all that.”
And on game days, Anna would surprise the players with goodie bags containing cookies and a note written by Cooper.
“If you showed up in your locker and you had cookies from Anna before the game you were blessed,” said Zach Wimberly, a former Eastern Washington teammate.
Then Cooper was drafted by the Rams in 2017.
The couple soon became parents, welcoming their first son in 2018 and their second son in 2021.
Anna says she is proud of Cooper and all he’s accomplished.
“I was telling him the other day, I was saying, ‘I’m proud of you in all the moments,'” she told ESPN. ‘”I’m proud of you when you wake up at 2 in the morning to go rock our kid, proud of you when you wake up at 4 in the morning to go watch film, and I’m proud of you when you break NFL records.”
“More than anyone,” she added, “I see the work. I see his sacrifice, his dedication to his craft, his time. It has been so special to watch.”
Cooper told CBN in 2019 that he is grateful for Anna’s support and that God will always be his ultimate source of hope.
“At the very basic levels of my life – as a husband, as a father, as a football player, knowing how much of a failure I am at these things if it wasn’t for my faith if it wasn’t for knowing that Christ has told me who I am in His eyes and know that how far short I fall in all these things, that He’s bridged every gap and that He’s called me to even greater things,” he stated.
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