Cooper Kupp and Peyton Manning go way back. But despite their special connection and Peyton Manning being one of the NFL’s biggest icons, not everyone is guaranteed a text back.
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To the shock of many, Cooper Kupp may have just had the greatest season for a WR ever. He secured the Triple Crown (most receptions, receiving yards, and receiving TDs), recorded the second-most receiving yards and receptions ever in a single season, and won the Super Bowl MVP and OPOY award.
It’s pretty hard to think of a way to beat that. Kupp’s dominance over the league, however, has been a surprise to say the least. He was a third round pick back in 2017, and has generally been overlooked by many prior to this season.
But Kupp always had the respect of two very qualified football experts: Eli and Peyton Manning. Back in the day, Kupp would attend the brothers’ “Manning Passing Academy” and was reportedly so good that they would actually argue over who got to throw to him.
“Eli and I would argue over who got to throw to Cooper, because all of his routes were very precise,” Peyton said. “He had great control of his body. You always knew where he was going, when he was going to break out or break in.”
“For a quarterback and receiver, sometimes it takes a while to develop that timing. But he was one of those guys who right away for me and Eli the timing was easy. And of course he caught everything as well.”
In fact, it was partially because of all this bickering over Kupp that Rams GM Les Snead even originally took interest in the young wideout.
Cooper Kupp has accidentally been ignoring Peyton Manning’s texts
On top of that little anecdote, Kupp’s grandfather, Jake Kupp, actually used to be Archie Manning’s teammate on the Saints. Like Archie Manning, he is in the team’s Hall of Fame.
So there’s no doubt that Cooper Kupp and Peyton Manning have an incredible relationship. But apparently, they’ve never actually exchanged numbers.
During an NFL Twitter Spaces in November, Kupp explained how he once got a message from an unknown number with a picture of him and Peyton at the passing academy.
At the time, he was perplexed over who the sender could possibly be. However, he eventually realized that the text messages aligned with when he would interact with Manning at these events.
“I think I’ve been ghosting Peyton Manning for my entire NFL career,” Kupp light-heartedly concluded. Considering how many fake message professional athletes get, it’s not surprising that Kupp was suspicious over who the sender was, but it’s still pretty wild that he ignored one of the sport’s all-time greats on accident.
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