Eastern Washington WR Cooper Kupp is a record-setter. Will the Eagles be interested?
MOBILE, Ala. - One day, Cooper Kupp was at the office of his new agents when he saw a shirt with the acronym "AO1."
MOBILE, Ala. - One day, Cooper Kupp was at the office of his new agents when he saw a shirt with the acronym "AO1."
"I was like, 'Is it all right if I take that home with me?' " Kupp said.
The Eastern Washington wide receiver wore the shirt to Senior Bowl weigh-ins on Tuesday. While most observers in attendance - an auditorium full of coaches and scouts - probably paid little attention to the shirt and more to his measurements, it stood out for those familiar with the Eagles and Carson Wentz.
The Eagles quarterback, of course, has "AO1" - which stands for "Audience of One" - tattooed on his right wrist. The phrase has become a sort of rallying cry for Wentz and about a dozen of his teammates. They even had "AO1" emblazoned across their cleats when the NFL allowed players to wear their own brands for charity.
So how did Kupp, who had never met Wentz, end up with his shirt? Well, for one, they share agents - Bruce and Ryan Tollner. And two, he identified with his message.
"I like what he stands for," Kupp said of Wentz. "He's a guy that's very vocal about his faith, as am I. We both understand that when we step on this field there's a purpose to what we're playing for. . . . That's why there's so much joy when we come out here. You can see it when he plays."
Kupp and Wentz have more in common than just their faith and agents. Both were extremely successful at the Football Championship Subdivision level, and both arrived at the Senior Bowl perhaps not with chips on their shoulders or something to prove but to compete against some of the best draft prospects from their class.
Wentz clearly performed at an elite level last year during his week here. In fact, he was probably the best player. Kupp isn't quite of that caliber - at least that's the consensus among some evaluators. He doesn't have ideal size and athleticism for a receiver.
But the 23-year old has traits you just can't be born with or teach. How else do you explain his remarkable production during four years of college? Over that span, he caught 428 passes for 6,464 yards - a record for every collegiate level - and 73 touchdowns.
"I'm not trying to prove anything to anyone," Kupp said after the North team's practice. "I don't come down here with a chip on my shoulder. I'm me, regardless of where I played or what I've done. . . . All I can do is come out here and be the player I have been. There's people that just haven't seen me yet."
There is football in his bloodlines. His father, Craig, played quarterback and was drafted by the New York Giants in the fifth round and played for the Cardinals in 1991. And his grandfather, Jake, played guard in the NFL from 1964 to '75 - most prominently for the Saints.
"I don't think my grandpa being a right guard taught me much about coming off the line," Kupp joked.
Some of his grandfather's size was also lost in translation. Kupp said that when he was a freshman in high school he wore ankle weights under his jeans during weigh-in so his coach wouldn't see. He said he topped out at 5-foot-4, 119 pounds.
There was no hiding here as players walked out onto a stage in only their underwear. But Kupp's weigh-in numbers (6-1, 198) were close enough to his Eastern Washington listing of 6-2, 195.
"I wouldn't say much of what I do is natural," Kupp said. "I was one those guys that was pretty small, pretty slow, pretty weak. A lot of what I had to do, I had to work. I was behind the curve with a lot of my friends growing up. I learned at any early age that I had to work."
He had an accomplished high school career in Yakima, Wash., but wasn't recruited by top programs. But he wound up with the Eastern Washington Eagles and set records from the start. What may have been most impressive about his production was that he did it against all levels of competition. He caught 40 passes for 716 yards and 11 touchdowns in four games against Pac-12 teams.
Kupp didn't appear to miss a beat going up against some of the best Division I-A senior cornerbacks during Tuesday's session, either.
"He's right up there with a lot of the guys," Michigan cornerback Jourdan Lewis said. "He's an amazing athlete. A lot of people don't see him as an athlete. But he went out here and showed he can play with the best of them."
Kupp said he doesn't know what he can run in the 40-yard dash. He said he's aiming for 4.4 seconds. He's training in Irvine, Calif., near the Tollners' office, with Ryan Flaherty. He's hoping to bump into Wentz at some point this offseason to work out and pick his brain.
The receiver has already worked with some of the best quarterbacks ever. Because his grandfather played with Archie Manning and remains friends, Kupp has worked at and been a camper at the Manning Passing Academy. He said he caught passes from a couple of guys named Peyton and Eli.
The first time Kupp ever spoke to Peyton Manning, he was telling him to run a specific route.
"He comes up and says, 'OK, I want you to take an angle inside the 6, I want you to push it up to 12, double stick, hit the near upright, and I'm going to hit you at 44 yards,' " Kupp recalled. "I run it, I go back and watch the film afterwards and he dropped the thing at 44 yards exactly."