Cooper Kupp Wins Triple Crown - Top NFL Wide Receiver Fueled by Faith in Christ
Los Angeles Rams wide receiver Cooper Kupp has just wrapped up an incredible season, earning the top honor for receivers in the NFL – the triple crown.
During the NFL's new extra-long 17-game schedule, Kupp surpassed all his fellow wideouts in all three columns of the record book with the most receptions, most receiving yards, and most receiving touchdowns.
The NFL reports Kupp finished the regular season with 145 receptions, 1,947 receiving yards, and 16 receiving touchdowns, all of which led the league.
.@CooperKupp is now a triple crown winner!pic.twitter.com/dItqekbIU3
— NFL (@NFL) January 10, 2022
Sports Spectrum also noted Kupp was just four catches shy of the all-time mark set by Michael Thomas in 2019 and 18 receiving yards away from setting a new single-season record (Calvin Johnson, 2012).
***Please sign up for CBN Newsletters and download the CBN News app to ensure you keep receiving the latest news from a distinctly Christian perspective.***
Even though the Rams lost their final season game to the San Francisco 49ers 27-24 in overtime last Sunday, the team won their division with the third NFC West title in the last five years, thanks to the Seattle Seahawks victory over the Arizona Cardinals.
"Obviously, you don't want to take for granted the difficulty of winning a division title," Kupp said after the regular-season finale. "At the same time, a loss never feels good. The focus is really on getting ready for next week, just being able to respond from this thing. We're going to watch the film, make the changes that we need to and then be ready to respond with a great week of practice and play a very good Cardinals team."
Praises Teammates Preparation
The former third-round pick out of Eastern Washington was asked after the team's Week 2 win over the Indianapolis Colts if he felt underappreciated. He referenced and praised the preparation of his fellow wideouts in his response, according to Sports Spectrum.
"Today, the verse that was on my mind was, 'The heart of man chooses his path but the Lord establishes his steps,'" Kupp said. "It just gave me so much freedom to go out there and play free, give everything I had, and know the results rested in Him."
Kupp says his faith has played an important role throughout his career, especially while recovering from a torn ACL in 2018.
"I needed God," he told CBN in 2019. "I needed to trust in what my faith was. Just my wife and son, being able to push me through this, teammates, the coaching staff, training staff, strength staff. I just had a team around me that encouraged me. It really showed me how important it was to have the people that God has really placed in my life."
Even though he is grateful for the strong support system, Kupp says God remains his ultimate source of hope and healing.
"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 concluded.
Kupp maintains a constant reference to his biblical foundations by including in his Twitter bio.
That verse says, "Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize."
The No. 4 seeded Rams will host the Cardinals Monday night in the final game of the NFL's wild-card round. The kickoff is scheduled for 8:15 pm Eastern (6:15 pm Pacific) on ESPN.
