- A game can provide

a remarkable emerging journey,

even at a distance.

It has for Cooper Kupp.

The Rams' playmaking receiveris shaped by bloodlines

from Yakima, Washington'sfirst family of football,

three NFL generations worth,

while setting multiplecollege career records

from Eastern Washington

before making an immediateNFL impact in Los Angeles.

So Coop, your offensive awareness

has almost made you aquarterback whisperer,

chemistry with your quarterback.

What's most important toyou about earning trust?

- It's huge.

If I was to ask the quarterback

to sit back there in the pocket,

knowing that there'sguys bearing down on him.

Him just being able to trust

that we're going to be at the right spot

at the right time, I think is everything

in terms of that relationship.

And if we're not doing that,

you know, that's when, you know,

things gotta go off schedule.

And now you're asking our quarterback

to, you know, have to make a play

because we're off as receivers.

- Football's a game about game-speed.

How do you prepare yourselfto what that requires?

- You know, I think it's just practice.

Our approach or practiceI think is paramount.

You know, you always saythat practice preparation

equals game reality.

Exactly what we want it to be

in terms of our tempo andour focus going into that

and just being able to execute.

You know, when we get to the game,

we step out on the field on Sunday,

we've already performedthis over and over again

during practice.

So much about football is preparation.

I mean you go out there on Sunday

with a quieted mind, beable to just play the game

that you've prepared all week for.

- Does the tempo and rhythm of football

heighten your awarenessjust translating into life?

I mean you're a dad now.

You've got no choiceprobably by now, right?

- (laughing) It's interestingbecause I feel like,

you know, sometimes you come into work

and you gotta be laser-focusedall the way through

and that in another way,

it's nice to be ableto go home and be like,

oh, well, I don't have tobe like that right now.

But yeah, we do have a one-year-old now,

so I get the 24/7 training experience.

- Looking back now, storied,record-setting career,

Eastern Washington, how didthat prepare you for the NFL?

- Going to Eastern, I hadcoaches that came around me

that never let me becomecomplacent with anything.

Yes, this is good, but thisis how you can be better.

It was just calling meto something greater

than I'm seeing for myself.

Look at how much better you can be

if you can fix these things,

and get in there and say,

"Well, this was good.

How can I be better?"

- Your family, the Kuppsare now just the 5th

to have three generationsdrafted in the NFL

playing the game.

Your dad as a former quarterback.

Your granddad as a former lineman.

What kind of support did that give you?

- Oh, I mean it's been incredibleto have such experience

to lean on and just perspective, I think.

How much they love their family.

How much they took care of things.

How they treated people.

I'm now being able to live out my dream,

but I have such biggerthings happening in my life

that are beyond football.

As much as I absolutely love football

and know, like, I'm gonna puteverything I have into it,

that I've got a family at home.

You know, my faith in Christ as well,

that just is more importantto make sure that's healthy.

That's something that, you know,

my dad and grandpa showed me.

- [Interviewer] You'reback from the ACL tear.

- [Cooper] Mm-hmm.

- What did you learn about yourself

you never would of seen,

by the waiting, thewondering, and the rehabbing?

- That's a good question.

There's a lot of lessons Ithink I learned through this,

but I think if I pinpoint down,

it's that I can't do this by myself.

The first thing that comes to mind

is just the spiritual battle that goes on

when something like this happens.

Just reactively is why?

You know, what caused this to happen?

I needed God.

I needed to trust in what my faith was.

Just having my wife and son

to be able to push me through this.

The teammates, the coaching staff,

the training staff, strength staff,

I mean I just had a team around me

that encouraged me, you know,

really showed me how important it was

to have the people aroundme that God's really placed

in my life.

Seeing how much of a blessing that is.

- Faith is a huge part of that.

You know, our faith is-

That we're not number one.

We're not the numberone focus of our lives

and it's others, and it's Christ first,

and then it's others, you know,

starting with the closest people to you.

- I know he knows there'spurpose in everything.

And he'll look back and knowthat he's grown from it,

and he's a stronger person,

and hopefully he can help someone else

down the road that goesthrough this same thing.

- All right, hey!

It's a great Rams' win today.

Great day for the Rams.

Great day for Coop.

- Woo!

- You are referred to as a playmaker,

altering a game, impacting a game.

Off the field, do youever consider Jesus Christ

being a playmaker in lives?

- He might just be the greatest playmaker

that's ever lived.

The restoration, redemption, sacrifice.

You know, what He laid on the line

to change the world forever.

You can't find a betterplaymaker than Jesus Christ.

- Coop, who is He to you?

- I don't think there's words to really-

At the very basic levels of my life,

as a husband, as afather, a football player,

knowing how much of afailure I am at these things,

if it wasn't for my faith,

if it wasn't for knowingthat Christ has told me

who I am in His eyes

and know that no matter far short I fall

in all these things,

that He's bridged everygap and that He's called me

to even greater things.