Los Angeles Rams wide receiver Cooper Kupp concluded a historic season Sunday night by catching a go-ahead touchdown with 1:25 remaining to propel his team to a 23-20 victory over the Cincinnati Bengals in Super Bowl LVI.
The star wideout caught eight passes for 92 yards and two touchdowns in the game — and rushed the ball for seven yards on a pivotal fourth-and-one conversion on the team’s final drive. He was named the game’s most valuable player for his performance.
On the victory podium after the game, Kupp, an outspoken Christian, used the sport’s biggest stage to thank his teammates and give glory to God.
“I don’t know, I don’t feel deserving of this. God is just so good. I’m just so thankful for the guys I get to be around, for the coaches, for my family,” he said.
Later, when speaking with reporters during the postgame press conference, Kupp offered more detail on why he never lost confidence even as the team trailed in the second half.
He shared a vision he said God revealed to him three years ago as he was walking off the field following the Rams’ loss to the New England Patriots in Super Bowl LIII. He had been unable to play in that game due to a torn ACL but said his faith led him to believe that he would get another chance at victory.
“In 2019, we walked off the field that last time after losing to the Patriots. I wasn’t able to be a part of that thing,” he said. “But I don’t know what it was, there was just this vision God revealed to me that we were going to come back, we were going to be part of a Super Bowl, we were going to win it, and somehow I was going to walk off the field as the MVP of the game.”
Kupp said he kept the vision to himself and his family until Sunday night. But since the start of the playoffs, he believed the script was written.
“I shared that with my wife because I couldn’t tell anyone else obviously what that was, but from the moment this postseason started, there was just a belief every game that it was written already,” he said. “It was written already and I just got to play free knowing that I got to play from victory, not for victory. I got to play in a place where I was validated not from anything that happened on the field but because of my worth in God and my Father.”
Kupp, who won Offensive Player of the Year last week for his accomplishments, had one of the best statistical years in NFL history for a wide receiver.
According to Sports Spectrum, earlier in the week, the 28-year-old superstar described how his faith in Christ allows him to compete at the highest level each and every day.
“I think the thing that He has taught me is that you will find that you are most fulfilled, you will find the most joy when you are rooted in your purpose, and specifically rooted in His purpose for you,” Kupp said. “That, to me, has been one of the best things about this year.”
“My motivation coming in every single day is to run the race in such a way as to honor God and the passions and the talents that He’s given me,” he added. “When I’m rooted in that, I am in a great place. I am able to play freely.”
(H/T: Sports Spectrum)