Joyful Take.

From the edition of September 27, 2026 Warm, curious, carefully sourced takes on the day's most interesting stories. Translate
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Before the NFL, Cooper Kupp had two offers and a red field

Two schools offered Cooper Kupp a scholarship. The one he chose in Cheney got four record-breaking seasons, and later turned the red turf he played on into $20 doormats that fund scholarships.

3 min read September 27, 2026 edition
A simple sunny illustration of a rolled-up rectangle of bright red artificial turf tied with twine, resting on a cream porch step next to a pair of worn cleats and a potted plant.
Some fields get retired. This one became doormats. Illustration: Joyful Take.

In July 2020, Eastern Washington put its old football field up for sale by the piece. A 2-by-3-foot doormat cost $20. A 5-by-5 patio square was $75, and a tailgate-sized 7.5-by-7.5 section went for $175, with the proceeds going to Eagle Athletic Fund scholarships. That red turf had been down since 2010, which means every one of Cooper Kupp's college games in Cheney was played on it. I did not expect a doormat to be the best way into his story, but here we are.

The loop closes neatly. Eastern's own giving page says Kupp's athletic scholarship was paid for by supporters of that same Eagle Athletic Fund.

2012: two offers and a scout-team year

Kupp was not a secret in Yakima. Eastern's 2016 roster bio lists him as a two-way all-state player at Davis High, first team as a defensive back, with a school-record 22 total touchdowns as a senior. It still wasn't enough to draw a crowd of recruiters. A Washington State Senate resolution adopted on February 28, 2022, records exactly two scholarship offers, from Idaho State and Eastern Washington.

He redshirted in 2012 and was named the team's offensive scout-team player of the year. That is the award for making the starters look bad in practice. Nobody outside the building notices it.

2013 to 2016: four seasons, four All-America teams

Then everybody noticed. His season-by-season line, from Eastern's roster bio:

Kupp started all 52 games of his Eastern Washington career.
SeasonCatchesYardsTDHeadline honor
2013931,69121Jerry Rice Award, top FCS freshman
20141041,43116Consensus All-American
20151141,64219Walter Payton Award
20161171,70017Repeat FCS Offensive Player of the Year

The totals were 428 catches, 6,464 yards and 73 touchdown catches, all FCS career records, and the yardage was a record across every NCAA division. The university counts 15 FCS records and 26 school records in all. In 2019 he was named the FCS Player of the Decade.

He also did the homework. Kupp finished an economics degree with a 3.63 GPA and was a first-team Academic All-American three straight years, the only three-time recipient in school history at the time. He married Anna Croskrey on June 20, 2015, between his sophomore and junior seasons.

Three generations, one draft night

The Rams took him 69th overall on April 28, 2017. His grandfather Jake Kupp had been a ninth-round pick of the Dallas Cowboys in 1964 and went on to the New Orleans Saints Hall of Fame. His father Craig, who played at Pacific Lutheran, was a fifth-round pick of the New York Giants in 1990. Eastern Washington called the Kupps the fifth three-generation NFL family. In an October 2017 Spokesman-Review story, Jake supplied the line I think about most:

It's like going back and reliving life.

Jake Kupp, Cooper's grandfather (source)

The same story describes Craig working out the calendar so he could see a Rams game in San Francisco on September 21, 2017, and then an Eastern Washington game against Montana two days later. Cooper's younger brother Ketner was a linebacker for the Eagles that fall. That is what a football family actually looks like: a man with a spreadsheet and a lot of airport parking.

Why the small-school route still matters

My opinion, for what it is worth: the two-offer detail is the most useful fact in his biography, more than any record. It is a reminder that recruiting rankings measure a 17-year-old, not the 22-year-old he becomes. Eastern put him on the field as soon as his redshirt year ended, and he answered with 52 straight games with a catch, another FCS record.

Kupp has said as much himself. On Eastern's giving page, he describes what the school gave him as “the opportunity to play the game that I love.” Somewhere in eastern Washington, a few of those doormats are presumably still out on porches. I hope somebody wipes their feet on one and knows exactly what it is.

Sources

Every factual claim above traces to one of these. Links open in a new tab.

  1. With Sale of Old Turf Now Underway, New Red Field Slated to be Installed Week of July 20Eastern Washington University Athletics, 2020-07-15.
  2. Cooper Kupp - 2016 Football RosterEastern Washington University Athletics, 2016.
  3. Cooper Kupp - Giving StoriesEastern Washington University, accessed 2026-09-27.
  4. Senate Resolution 8656 honoring Cooper KuppWashington State Legislature, 2022-02-28.
  5. Kupp Drafted by Los Angeles Rams in Third Round, Making NFL History in His Own FamilyEastern Washington University Athletics, 2017-04-28.
  6. More than ever, football is a family affair for the KuppsThe Spokesman-Review, 2017-10-12.
  7. Cooper Kupp (WR): Bio, News, StatsSeattle Seahawks (Seahawks.com), accessed 2026-09-27.