Cooper Kupp might be raking in the cash with his multi-million-dollar NFL contract, but his start was quite humble. On the Pivot podcast, the Rams wideout shared a defining moment that fueled his determination to succeed in the NFL. He recalled a time when he stood in a bank with his now-wife Anna and father-in-law and discovered he had only $3 in his account.
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Despite his financial situation, Anna’s parents still welcomed Cooper into the family, and let’s just say he is more than grateful. The star wideout, who signed a massive three-year contract extension worth $80 million in 2022, revealed that this story took place when he and Anna decided to merge their bank accounts, possibly to share the financial responsibilities together.
Anna’s father, who was a co-signer on her account, accompanied the couple to the bank. Kupp was left embarrassed when the bank teller revealed his financial situation in front of his new father-in-law. With only $3 in his account, it was an impression he certainly didn’t want to make on his new family.
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Despite knowing about such ’embarrassing’ details, Anna and her family remained unwavering in their support for Cooper, sticking by him through thick and thin. That moment solidified their bond and undoubtedly made their journey together very special.
Therefore, Kupp believes that meeting his wife was one of the defining moments in his life. His dream of making it to the NFL became more than just a dream when he realized someone was counting on him. This changed his entire perspective and mindset.
That said, there is nothing like a near-death experience to change your outlook toward life and reevaluate everything. Unfortunately, Kupp got to experience that moment when he stretched himself thin during his basketball days.
Cooper lost 60% of his blood during school days
During the same podcast, Kupp shared a story about how his dream of playing sports professionally nearly ended in middle school due to some poor choices and ignoring the signs his body was giving him.
The Super Bowl winner revealed that during a sixth-grade basketball tournament, he felt uneasy and winded. He was so exhausted that he couldn’t move his legs.
He subsequently experienced a similar feeling in another matchup and couldn’t understand what was happening to him. Unable to continue, he had to be pulled out between games.
Thinking he was just dehydrated, Cooper replenished his body with fluids. However, when the symptoms persisted, he realized it was a case of more than just dehydration.
As it turns out, he had developed stomach ulcers and was bleeding internally. On top of that, the Rams wideout lost 60% of his blood and had to be rushed to the hospital.
Feeling dizzy due to severe blood loss, he even started hallucinating things, spending the next three days in the hospital bed, hooked to IVs, and catheters in his vein to replenish his body.
As the star wide receiver recalled:
“My dad’s like, ‘You are dehydrated. He’s got pedialytes.’ And I’m chugging pedialytes. I walk up to stairs for lunch and I pass out on the floor. I was like, ‘What in the world is going on? I can’t figure it out.’ This goes on for a few days and I found out I had stomach ulcers and I had lost 60% of my blood.”
That near-death experience led him to self-introspect and made him understand how life and his dreams are so fragile. That was the first pivotal moment in his life, which changed his outlook toward athletics.
Despite changing his approach and being a two-sport athlete at A.C. Davis High School, he was an unranked senior and only got two scholarships.
Seven wideouts were picked before the Rams took him off the board in the third round. He had to struggle and work hard to make his name, going from 4th in the depth chart in his rookie year to becoming a starter in the next.
Kupp is now a top-ten receiver in the league, with millions in his bank, a Super Bowl ring, a wonderful family, and God watching over him.
