Cooper Kupp Super Bowl MVP shares one career moment that means the most, talks playing with Aaron Donald, OBJ stories, Sean McVay, mentoring young roster, 2024 NFL preview, faith, family & bond with wife

"What I'm going to say, people are going to hate... But you have to not care what happens. You have to not care what the result is, get completely past the wins and the losses." Cooper Kupp Super Bowl LVI MVP As we continue to make our way through NFL Training camps, we are a little over a week away from Kick off, and we are sitting with star players from around the league getting inside scoop, hearing never-told-before stories and going inside the locker room mentality of the 32 teams as they prepare for the 2024 season. On this episode of the Pivot Podcast in partnership with Fanatics, we catch up with the 2022 Super Bowl champs, the Los Angeles Rams, and who better to sit with than the former Super Bowl MVP and Triple Crown winner, Cooper Kupp. It's been two years since the wide receiver has played a full season. But 2024 is different. He's finally healthy again, and ready to bounce back stronger than before. Ryan, Fred, and Channing chat with Kupp for a look back on his journey and insight into the 2024 Rams, and how Kupp is trying to mentor the young roster while remaining one of the NFL’s best every Sunday. Kupp gets honest about the entirety of his career, the Super Bowl runs, the injuries derailing some of his success, playing along side stars like Odell Beckham Jr and Aaron Donald and how Head Coach Sean McVay has given unprecedented guidance and leadership not just on the field but beyond football. The star wide-receiver reveals the locker room secrets and team game plan going into Super Bowl LVI, including a never-heard-before story about how the game was set up to showcase veteran receiver OBJ. And, even though Kupp won MVP, he shares what really made that night special for him. Although his mindset on football has shifted over the years, Cupp Is more committed than ever to the game he loves and the people he works with. What used to be a do-or-die mentality has evolved into a more balanced approach—he’s all about preparing, staying healthy, and giving it his all on the field, without stressing over what certain tv analysts say or people outside the building think. A lot of that "slide off your back" mentality stems from Cupp’s tight-knit relationship with his wife, who has been by his side since meeting at a high school track meet. The two got married with just $3 in their joint bank account, and while that number has grown, their bond has stayed rock solid. He shares how this relationship has always been his biggest motivation, keeping him grounded no matter what life throws their way. As for the upcoming season, he’s pumped about what’s ahead. He’s focused on providing guidance for younger guys like Puka Nacua, but don’t think for a second he’s done leaving it all on the field—he’s got his eyes on another Super Bowl run. Make sure to subscribe to YouTube for hints on upcoming cities, guests and follow along for more training camp content. Big season ahead! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Speaker names marked ? are inferred from speaking time and the show’s known hosts — they are not voice-verified.

• 0:00Speaker 00

  Are your ad campaigns lighting up the dashboard? But not the pipeline? That's bull spend. And marketers are calling it out in. Dashboard Confessions.

• 0:09Speaker 01

  My boss asked for results, so I opened my dashboard for the only positive sounding metric I had. Impressions.

• 0:17Speaker 00

  Cut the bull spend. See revenue, not just reach. LinkedIn delivers the highest return on ad spend of major ad networks. Advertise on LinkedIn. Spend $250 on your first campaign and get a $250 credit. Go to LinkedIn.com/campaign. Terms and conditions apply.

• 0:30Channing Crowder?

  I took a pee and had to wipe my butt.

• 0:33Speaker 03

  What are y'all talking about over here?

• 0:37Channing Crowder?

  Nobody wipes ass when they pee.

• 0:39Fred Taylor?

  You see what you're walking on?

• 0:41Channing Crowder?

  I really did.

• 0:42Fred Taylor?

  Hey, dude. We got guests, man. We got company. Cooper played sports his whole life. He knew. It was nasty cold, Shannon. I've never heard that before.

• 0:50Channing Crowder?

  And I went back to the hotel. I peed and I wiped afterwards. And I was like, damn. Because everything was sweaty. I had to get that moisture off of me. See?

• 1:00Speaker 03

  I understand. I didn't have context. I didn't have context to the situation.

• 1:05Ryan Clark?

  Also, too, Cooper is really nice. Like, he's a nice human.

• 1:10Channing Crowder?

  A pleasant human.

• 1:10Ryan Clark?

  Yeah, like, everybody else knows that's nasty as hell.

• 1:13Channing Crowder?

  Is that nasty?

• 1:15Speaker 03

  I guess people just aren't talking about it. You know, it's one of those things that happens that you just...

• 1:20Channing Crowder?

  You don't say it.

• 1:21Speaker 03

  You just don't say it.

• 1:22Ryan Clark?

  Remember the last time we was here? And we interviewed somebody at the Houston's joint practice? Was when you flipped your drawers inside out and hung them on the A.C.?

• 1:31Channing Crowder?

  Yeah, sometimes you gotta, yeah. Dry your drawers out of the A.C., man.

• 1:35Speaker 03

  That air's blowing into your room, man.

• 1:38Channing Crowder?

  I know, and you enjoy yourself.

• 1:43Speaker 03

  To each their own, man. To each their own.

• 1:59Ryan Clark?

  Cooper Cup, man. Super Bowl champion, All-Pro, Triple Crown winner, Offensive Player of the Year, man. Thank you so much for joining us. This is The Pivot, part of Fanatics. Frederick Taylor, Randolph Channing Crowder. I'm Ryan Terry Clark.

• 2:13Fred Taylor?

  Full name for Mr. Cup.

• 2:14Ryan Clark?

  Yeah, full name. The story written in your hometown, what is it Yakima?

• 2:20Speaker 03

  Yakima.

• 2:21Ryan Clark?

  Yakima, they called you Mr. Business. And it's about your legendary perseverance. Right, and you talk about it on your podcast with your wife, Daily Grind, your size, it's a well documented. Where was the level of work ethic, though, that it took to become Cooper Cup? From that five foot, five hundred and nineteen pound kid, where was that birth?

• 2:45Speaker 03

  I can actually think, so I've always, I think in some ways had an intrinsically like, I wanted to, you know, you're playing sports, like I wanted like effort wise, I felt like you owe it to the guys around you, like I want to be good for the guys that I'm playing with. I think you kind of as a kid, like you want to be good at what you're doing, right? Like, just like my son, like he doesn't like it when he's not good at something. As a kid, like I think that's kind of played into it, but if I was to pinpoint a moment, it was probably sixth grade. And I was driving with my dad to basketball practice. And this is gonna sound super corny, but you know, like the little Liv Strong, these are little bracelets, right? I had the little one on that just had heart on it was just the one that I wore.

• 3:27Speaker 03

  And my dad was like, do you know what that, you know what that means? Like this is, it's kind of funny that you, you wear this bracelet all the time. And my dad's six five now, he, you know, he grew, but he's like, he was real small and called in a high school. He's like, you're going to be someone that your body's gonna be behind everyone else. I know, he's like, I know what you want to do. If you want to go do those things, you are going to have to work harder than everybody else that you meet. And it's just gonna have to be a part of how you operate, it's not fair, but it's gonna have to be how you do, how you do things. And for whatever reason, it just, like that moment, that little, like that five minute car ride to practice,

• 4:07Speaker 03

  has been something I've always remembered of just that seed of just saying, hey, this is something that I know this is what I want to do. And just having someone pointed out point blank like, hey, this is what it's gonna take. And from that moment on, it was an intentional piece of how I handled practice, how I went about every part of my day was now knowing that there is that little piece of me that's like, hey, if I do want to do those things and I have lofty goals for myself, I've got to outwork everybody.

• 4:35Channing Crowder?

  And to that narrative, you look different than Fred, Ryan and myself. Whatever, whatever are you speaking of? But to be a white dude, that whole thing, it just comes up whenever I talk to a white ballplayer, the Zach Thomas thing, he was just a monster. But they said, hard worker, film guy, studies and all that. And you're just saying like, I had to have more heart than everybody else. Bro, you won the triple crown in the NFL. Like you were the best receiver in the NFL in, you know, saying 2021, that's when you won it. Like, does it ever get to you where when they talk about other receivers, it's like, oh, this dude talented. Oh, Cooper, oh, he's a hard worker. He really understands the offense. The whole, the whole, the whole white narrative.

• 5:20Speaker 03

  It doesn't, I mean, I don't let it bother me. I know that's part of it, right? Like, I was, I was compared to Jordy Nelson. I was compared to guys that's like, yeah, I'm nothing like Jordy Nelson. Like Jordy Nelson ran like a 10 something hundred. I ran an 11.7, right? So it's completely different, like we're completely different players. But it is something. But for me, it was like, I know that piece came about, right? Cause like my dad had said to me, like, your body is going to catch up. Like eventually you're going to get to this place where you're, you're going to be strong, you're going to be fast, you're going to be able to do the things, but it's going to take time and commitment to get to that, that place. I am in some ways really thankful for going through this time period where I had to create habits, you know, I had to learn how to work hard. Because then when the body did catch up and I was like, hey, I am, I feel like I'm like

• 6:04Speaker 03

  matching up with people where I can run with guys now I can, you know, physically match up with the guys that I'm lining up across. I had all these habits in place already that allowed me now like, I'm doing the things right off the field, prepare myself and I'm just going to keep going more and more. Where guys that had that already, they weren't challenged. They didn't have to do anything. They could show up on Friday nights and dominate whoever was across from them. I couldn't do that. But it's that these habits for me that move forward like, man, now I know how to play this game technically, tactically, and now my body's coming along physically, I can play the game how I want to. That's always gonna be a, that's always gonna be a thing, though. What you're talking about is, it's just, like, I know the players I'm gonna be comped to, and I know the guys that are getting comped to me all kind of fall into the same category.

• 6:48Channing Crowder?

  You ever went and got this six foot two black dude that runs a 4.2 and just, uh?

• 6:52Speaker 03

  Hey, if you can run, I'm not trying to say, if you can run, you can run, man. That's good. Good for you.

• 6:57Ryan Clark?

  Hey, Lad McConkey, I met him at the rookie premiere this year, and I went up to him purposely, I was like, "Look, man," I was like, "My one goal when it came to evaluating you for the draft was giving you a black comp." I was like, "One, you're no, you're nothing like Walker, you're nothing like Amendola, you're not like Cooper Cup." And my comp for him was Emmanuel Sanders, a guy I played with, get in and out of breaks, slight build, but fast, quick. And he looked at me and he shook my hand, he said, "Thank you." You know what I mean? So I do get it, but I also think it works both ways, though, because I know you've played with extremely talented players who do work hard, who do study, who

• 7:37Ryan Clark?

  do understand the game, and sometimes those players don't get the credit for that part of the game as you might not for your athleticism.

• 7:46Fred Taylor?

  Your grandfather played for the Cowboys, so did your father. The football tradition that runs your family, is that something that's sort of like, um, bred in Yakima?

• 7:59Speaker 03

  Yakima?

• 8:00Fred Taylor?

  Did I fuck it up again?

• 8:01Speaker 03

  Yakima.

• 8:02Fred Taylor?

  I looked it up. I actually just looked it up on YouTube and pressed the button. Yeah, I looked it up, but it keeps coming back to Yak.

• 8:07Speaker 03

  No, so my, my grandpa grew up in like a farm town outside of Yakima, Sunnyside, and then he played for the Saints for most of his career. He ended up moving back, lived in another little, like, small town called Seela, right outside of Yakima, and that's where my dad grew up. And, you know, the football thing, like, I think that was just a shared passion in our family. It's not like, um, there's not a lot of great football players that have come out of Yakima. There have been some, you know, I don't know if you guys know, Taylor Stubblefield played for Purdue, he was a receiver, and he set the NCAA receptions mark at one point, like. So we've had some guys that have come out, but I wouldn't say it was like a breeding ground for, for football players or anything like that.

• 8:46Fred Taylor?

  So you're just walking around the house, your grandfather's photo, your father's photo, and you was like? Put my picture up there next.

• 8:53Speaker 03

  Yeah, no, it wasn't even, if it wasn't even really crazy like that, I mean, my, my grandpa's basement was pretty cool. Like, you know, he had, you know, like all some of the trophies, his old helmets and stuff like that, you kind of see it. But, you know, my dad's experience, my dad played two years, he kind of was a journeyman, jumped around a few places, but he didn't, I wouldn't say, he would say he didn't have a positive, it wasn't a positive experience for him, right? He felt like he had, once he got to the league, he felt like, well, this was my goal, was to make it here.

• 9:20Fred Taylor?

  Right.

• 9:22Speaker 03

  Then there wasn't like that push or like that, that side of him that was like, I deserve to be here, and now what can I do in the NFL? And he feels like he kind of missed out on that opportunity. Um, so he didn't talk about it a whole lot. It was really, like I said, it was just, like, I just started playing football because my dad was my quarterback, and I put me to go and throw in the backyard. It was just the passion for like, playing the game that led me to like, man, this is something that I, I just enjoy this so much and feel like it just comes naturally to me. Like, this is something that I want to do. And that's really kind of what pushed me to go. I, I never had the thought like, oh, my grandpa did it, my dad did it, this is what I'm gonna do. It was, it was just truly something that I just fell in love with. Yeah.

• 9:59Ryan Clark?

  That intrinsic sort of fire that burned in you to accomplish this goal, listening to you speak, though, it became your only goal. You wanted to make it, and you've spoken publicly about how difficult it was to handle the adversity of your young career. You know, actually talked about a drop in the end zone that could have won the game. There's a fumble on the goal line as you're going to score. I think this was all in 18 or 17. How difficult was it to deal with coming out of college, being a record-setting receiver who balled against the power five schools as well, and then having some of those setbacks early when that's all you ever wanted to do?

• 10:42Speaker 03

  Yeah, I think, well, I, I don't know what it was like, you know, for, what it's like for other players that have been at, you know, big time schools, played against guys, you know, whatever, like, you play in the SEC for four years, you're playing against a lot of NFL players, or like, at, at FCS, that's not the reality of who you're seeing week in, week out. So I think there's a piece of you that is that nagging question in the back like can I do this still like do I belong here you know that's I think that's always that self doubt is always a part of and maybe it's a part of everyone's game but it's always a piece of like you know do I can I do this and those moments were really hard the ones that you're talking about where you feel like you've let down your team I mean that

• 11:23Speaker 03

  Seattle one was brutal and I remember going down that two minute drive and just my mindset in that moment was not where it should have been you know my mindset in that moment was just like don't mess up you know and and so now when the ball gets thrown to me I'm in this place where I'm like I just want to make sure I run the right route get the right spots I got so much going through my head and Jared threw such a great pass I end up missing you know game winning touchdown and you let your team down I fumbled on the two yard line going in to score against Minnesota and there's those moments are really hard where that self doubt becomes real that voice becomes a lot stronger but I was really thankful for you know my wife and just being able to have the the history that I have of

• 12:04Speaker 03

  you know how much work I put into it that you can fall back on and you know my wife being able to speak the truth over me like you do belong here and you've worked for these moments and the results aren't gonna the results aren't always gonna tell you the truth right what's your process like how are you going about things what is this what do things look like what's what's your your mindset like and help me kind of pull through those things because it can be really hard when you go through these highs and these lows and you think at my rookie year I thought the NFL was the world like whatever happened on Sunday like it was world changing stuff like you drop a pass the entire world changes and it's like this is this is a game and I get to just enjoy being able to play it.

• 12:46Channing Crowder?

  It sounds cool to say I shouldn't I should try to make a play and not think about messing up but to really be the guy that goes out there and says I'm about to catch a touchdown and not say I don't want to mess up this drive.

• 12:58Speaker 03

  And and to get out of that is probably like.

• 13:02Speaker 03

  What I'm gonna say, people are gonna hate, like they're gonna hate to hear that this is my mindset, but you have to not care what happens. You have to not care what the result is. I get completely past this place of like the wins and the losses, get completely past the, you know, what the stats are gonna be at the end of the day. I work from Monday to Saturday to make sure I prepare and do everything I possibly can to be the best Cooper Cup that I can be on Sunday. The things I eat, when I show up to work, the film I'm watching, every piece of them is intentional as I can possibly be. Once I step on the field on Sunday, it doesn't matter. Like I've already done everything I possibly can to be in that moment.

• 13:44Speaker 03

  All I can do is attack it and the results do not matter because I've done everything, right? So like there's so much as a receiver, especially so much out of my control, I'm just gonna be the best me that I can be and the rest is, let the rest be what it is, you know? God's written out what this, what this day is gonna be already and it's out of my control. I'm gonna attack it. I know that I get to play from victory, not for victory, and that anything that happens after, after this game, it's already written. So the worst thing I can do is look back and be like, oh, why didn't I like, why didn't I go after, why didn't I try it? When at the end of the day, it wouldn't have mattered whether I tried it or not. Like I'm gonna just be secure and being like, I'm gonna send it, right?

• 14:25Speaker 03

  Like I got an outroute versus one hole. I got terrible leverage. This helps in here. I'm trying to run outroute, but I'm like, I don't have a plan. It's like, no, I'm just gonna freaking, I'm gonna go for it. Like whatever it is, no doubt, no self doubt. Just I'm just gonna send it. If it doesn't work, it doesn't work.

• 14:41Ryan Clark?

  That is, that is straight from the unathletic guy playbook.

• 14:45Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 14:46Ryan Clark?

  That is, it is actually, it is actually my exact approach to football. There was so much. I couldn't control, but I could control that. And, you know, I knew that no matter how much I prepared, I knew exactly where this guy was going to line up. Understood the tips and tendencies, down and distances. That if he got the ball and his cutback brought him back to the A gap and I had the backside A gap, I still had to get him on the ground. And no matter how much work I did, no matter how I approached it during the week, there was a possibility that that might not go my way.

• 15:18Speaker 03

  Yep.

• 15:18Ryan Clark?

  But I knew I prepared the entire week to make that tackle. I knew I prepared to be in that place. And I could walk out of the stadium and say, on that play, or on that day, Fred Taylor was better on that play. Or Randy Moss was better on that play. But Ryan Clark did everything he could possibly do. And for me, I needed to do that to have peace of mind.

• 15:38Speaker 03

  Yeah, that's it. Control your controllables. If you can control your controllables, you can be at peace. You can walk off the field, say, hey, there's some plays I wish I would have made. There were some plays that didn't go my way, but I know I did everything I can to go put myself in the best position to make those plays. And I'm at peace with that. And if you can be at peace with that in yourself, it just changes, it changes everything.

• 15:58Ryan Clark?

  Could you control your white Pathfinder when you was in school?

• 16:01Speaker 03

  No, I couldn't. How do you know if I'm a white Pathfinder? She sends some research.

• 16:06Ryan Clark?

  Could you control that when you used to break down?

• 16:08Speaker 03

  No, you can't control that. I got on the freeway with that thing breaking down, oh my goodness. That was the worst purchase we've ever made. That's the worst purchase, worst purchase of my life.

• 16:17Ryan Clark?

  Was it, did you just buy it as a lemon?

• 16:19Speaker 03

  Yes. On the test drive, the car first didn't start. Then on the drive, as I was exiting, turned off and I had to start it again. And then we still bought the car. It was a terrible decision. It was like...

• 16:30Ryan Clark?

  It was you and your wife?

• 16:31Speaker 03

  You know, it was me and my, me and my dad were doing it. So my dad has to bear some responsibility, but I was pushing for like, I want to have a car when I get back to college. Cause it was spring break, it was the last day I'm about to leave. I'm like, I don't want to be up there without a car. We pulled the trigger. I'm telling you, I'm 50 miles an hour on the freeway. If there's any gradient at all up the hill, I'm 50 miles an hour. And we'll go down the hill, car will turn off and the steering wheel will walk. It was, I mean, this was the worst. The fact that we got out without just a devastating crash.

• 17:03Ryan Clark?

  How long did you keep it?

• 17:04Speaker 03

  Kept it longer than we should have. It was a few years. Kept it for a few years. It was, yeah.

• 17:09Ryan Clark?

  That's why you believe in God.

• 17:13Speaker 03

  It helped. He was just cruising down the road. You wouldn't even know where they were going to have it at the park. No, I think, yeah, there's nothing like being like going 80 miles an hour on the freeway and your car's off and your steering wheel doesn't work and your brakes don't work like it's straight locked and you're trying to start that thing up and it's like you see that turn coming up and I'm like, oh, come on.

• 17:36Fred Taylor?

  Hey, cool. I want to pivot back really quick. We had AD on the show. We talked about his last year and preparing for his last season. He said he knew guys like yourself and Stafford was going to come and work your asses off. Talk about preparation, hard work. You can prepare, like RC said, you even said it, as much as you want. You don't always get that result, right, that you expect? What were some of your most difficult challenges, you know, knowing that you put in all the work, knowing that you can go out there and lift your team up, but sometimes things don't always happen that way?

• 18:10Speaker 03

  I mean, as anyone that's played this game, injuries are a part of what's going to happen, right? Like, after that rookie year, I look back, I, yeah, I had ACL the next year. And I, after that rookie year, I hated watching that film. Like, I go back and watch my rookie year film, I just get sick to my stomach because like so much I was hesitant about, so you just see the weight that I was playing with. And so I really worked hard that next offseason, spent a lot of time. I was running on the track with Robert Woods. Like, I was just in such a good place. I came into that next year feeling so good, so free to just let it rip.

• 18:43Fred Taylor?

  All right.

• 18:44Speaker 03

  And then went, you know, first four weeks playing great, then go concussion week five, tear my MCL, week six, come back for a couple, or missed a couple of weeks, come back for a week in New Orleans, and then played Seattle at home and tear my ACL in the same knee. And that was the year that we ended up going to the, you know, Super Bowl, play against the Patriots. And like, that was incredibly challenging because you did, I'd worked so hard to get back to To get back to feeling like myself again and then you get hurt and it's like you're now committed to nine months of having to work hard like you gotta be dialed like harder.

• 19:27Speaker 03

  Yeah, exactly. Like how much more dialed in now. Now it's not just like building my body up. So it's like completely rebuilt. Like go back to ground zero and have to rebuild the whole thing. So that was a real challenging thing. 2020 was really tough as well. And obviously that was I'm like such a weird year in football in general. I think we just felt real good going into that year. And we just results wise, we just could not get the result that we wanted, you know, and we felt like our process and things were were there, but we just could not get over the hump on that. And that that year we, you know, I the amount of footballs that I caught at five yards, like turned around, like turned with my back to the defense. I mean, I come out of these games, like you're just getting hit by linebackers. As a receiver, you know, you know what's gonna happen, but like

• 20:11Speaker 03

  when the entire year is catching your ball, the ball like this, and you know, you've got two backers that are vice tackling you, like it's it's brutal. So that year was that year coming out there was was tougher. It's like, man, we just, I felt like we, our process was all good. Just the results just weren't weren't what they should have been.

• 20:30Speaker 06

  Fanatic Sportsbook's $5 million jersey drop. Jerseys are dropping every single day. Just log in daily for your chance to win. It's time to suit up for season opener. This is Fanatic Sportsbook, the most rewarding sportsbook.

• 20:45Ryan Clark?

  When did you know that 21 could be special? And I mean this from an individual standpoint, there was nothing more you could do as a receiver statistically, triple crown, you end up as a team, you're the best team in football when it's all said and done. Was there a moment though in that year where you sat down or you were at practice or even in the game and you said, okay, this is for myself and my team, a very special season?

• 21:17Speaker 03

  I'd say in all honesty, it was within the first like few days of competitive OTAs. Things were still a little weird that we had late OTAs. A lot of teams weren't doing OTAs. We came in and kind of did a modified version. But within probably the first two days, it was like. With our offense and you know, Nine shows up fresh off of thumb surgery. You know, he's throwing the football period for the first time to us. Like, he had just gotten done throwing a little Nerf ball with a trainer. First day of OTAs was his first day throwing, and we're like throwing 100 balls, right? So he comes off, fresh off this thumb surgery and we're running our offense and the ball is going to places that,

• 21:59Speaker 03

  and in the timing, it's like, you better turn around because the ball is whizzing past face masks. And so like, this is gonna be different now. And, and that was like, first day is like, guys are not ready for what's coming. And the next day, it was like, the ball's not touching the ground. You know, it's just like, and offensively, the feeling of, you know, in 2020, we had the number one defense in the league. So, feel good about the guys we have on the defensive side of the ball. But we start offensively being like, this thing is just like, moving. It's different with Nine back there. And so within the first two days of OTAs, there was this, like, this feeling like, we've got some chemistry here. We've got some stuff going offensively that could be, could be different.

• 22:40Channing Crowder?

  Did you know when you became the number one? Because you weren't always the number one guy. And then it was that, when you walked out there, bruh, the safety's looking at you too.

• 22:50Speaker 03

  So I would say, you know, for how I'd approached things and as a receiver, like, outside of that rookie year where my mindset wasn't where it was supposed to be, like, I had gotten to the point where I just said, when I walk on the field, I thought, I'm the best football player on the field. That's just how I had to approach. I've, I've prepared for this, I'm the best guy here. This is, no, I'm just gonna play the game. And so that was my mindset on things, right? And we had, the way that our offense was work, had worked out, you know, for a few years, it was, you know, Brand Cooks, Robert Woods, me. Pretty like evenly distributed, you know, in terms of how we did things. And guys got hurt some years and whatnot, but it was pretty evenly distributed. And then we had me and Rob and Josh Reynolds. And then we come in that last year and you got, you know, you got Van and Rob and me.

• 23:34Speaker 03

  And so my, my mindset hadn't really changed on that. So I didn't have like a moment where I felt like... You know, oh, they're like, I'm the one now. Because I had, I had been seeing myself as kind of like, I'm the guy. You know, whatever.

• 23:49Ryan Clark?

  You started seeing them safeties creepy in a way.

• 23:51Speaker 03

  I was gonna say, there comes a point where like, the game planning was like, you know, hey, we're anticipating that you're gonna be doubled on third down. Or like, on the East, like, we're like, you know, and that's when it started to be like, okay. But it was more of a production piece to that, you know, like, we get off to such a hot, hot start that first, and 2021, it's like, understandably, you know, when we're throwing the ball the way we are, like, teams are gonna do something differently, so it never really hit my head that way, I guess.

• 24:18Ryan Clark?

  What happened when three became a part of the team, OBJ? You are obviously the guy, and that was never a question, even once he became a part of the team. But there was a piece of it of, Coop's the guy, he's still the one, but we do have this other dude over here that's special, and everybody knows he's special. Was that sort of an immediate feeling when he became a part of the team, even though in Cleveland, it really didn't show as it did in New York?

• 24:49Speaker 03

  Yeah, you know, we weren't really sure what that was gonna be like. Because when we had, I remember getting on FaceTime with Odell and seeing like, hey, we, because his thing was like, he wasn't sure if we'd want him in LA. And me and Rob and Van all got on FaceTime with him, like, no, like, we definitely want you to come, like, be a part of this. The day he flies in, shows up for practice, Rob tears his ACL. Right, so like, it was a weird, like, the plan was for Odell to have a little bit of time, and then Rob goes down, and now, like, okay, Odell, you got three days to learn the offense, like, you're, you're playing now. And so, we weren't sure what that was gonna look like, but then, when he got there...

• 25:32Speaker 03

  Talk about someone that like knows football and can learn and just like mentally being as dialed in as he is like he he picked up our offense like that and it wasn't I I thought I was thinking I was gonna have to be talking to him and tell him what he's like no he's got dialed in knows what he's got and he doesn't act like he comes in and he's still himself he's he's got like lets his personality be who it is and keeps things fun and light but man he knows his stuff that was a real special thing when you had you know Odell on one side and I'm able to line up on the other side and now it's like he said now the safety can't do what what he was you know and you know we like the Super Bowl that game was set up for Odell to go off you know we anticipated that they were gonna just double me and we

• 26:15Speaker 03

  said hey the game plan's gonna be give Cooper a man to man route if he doesn't get one on one hopefully he can win it if they double it it's gonna be an Odell show and you kinda saw in the first quarter first part of that game like it was gonna be the Odell show and obviously he goes down it was just hurt so bad for him because that was gonna be a special performance I think from from Mo.

• 26:37Fred Taylor?

  That's why McVeigh is the the evil genius man we saw that matchup coming or that how that game plan sort of was unfolding but going back to that game there were some really big moments I remember towards the end Jamar Chase when it was crunch time he kinda got behind Jalen it was just a disconnect but he got behind him but in that moment you had you had two touchdowns that game that led up to you getting Super Bowl MVP were those two touchdowns those moments bigger than Aaron Donald's sack to to end it?

• 27:10Speaker 03

  What AD did throughout that game was pretty special like from the point that Odell goes down to the last drive of the game our offense did nothing right like we we were we were terrible couldn't make a play the defense kept going stop after stop after stop after stop and got us in a place where we could be then in you know we got six minutes left the ball gives us an opportunity to go score with AD's thing it wasn't just that moment right where he's got he beats essentially goes so fast beats the double team you know like they're sending the guard and center to him he just beats the guard around the edge like. For him to do that is obviously an incredible moment.

• 27:53Speaker 03

  But what AD's saying was that whole entire game, he was, you know, leading that defense. And that's, that was what was, to me, is the most special thing is what he did for that. Two touchdowns is what it is. AD played a complete game, that, that full, that, that Super Bowl.

• 28:09Fred Taylor?

  He usually does this thing where he wants to cut the room in half. I'm surprised he hadn't brought it up today. Because we've never been to a Super Bowl on this side, and you guys have. I, I really, in talking about-

• 28:21Speaker 03

  We've both been to two, actually.

• 28:22Fred Taylor?

  Well, that's very true. And I'm not gonna ask that question about- What, y'all one and one?

• 28:26Speaker 03

  Yeah, we one and one.

• 28:27Fred Taylor?

  Oh, okay. I, I like one and one, champ.

• 28:29Speaker 03

  Better than O and O.

• 28:30Fred Taylor?

  I like O and O, I like O and O. No, I, I, one and one, I think is pretty cool. And, and talking about moments, the moment that, that confetti starts to, to rain down on you guys. Hearing him talk about it, hearing some other guys talk about it, like, what's that feeling like?

• 28:47Speaker 03

  The end of that, that drive, the last drive, right? I got absolutely rocked in the back of the end zone. So Von Bell smokes me in the, in the back of the end zone. Penalty on them, penalty on us, we play it down. I was in a little bit of a fog, to say the least, in the, in the aftermath of that game. But what, I think the coolest thing was getting to, like, celebrate with my family. As all this other stuff wound down, you know, we get, you know, do you do the presentation and all that different stuff? Like, being able to walk off the field with my family. And Bill was like, we just found a little corner on the field and sat down together. And being able to have that moment with my boys and with my wife, where we were, it was like, like, you know, the culmination of the season and everything, just being able to sit there for a second and reflect on, like, what that whole year was.

• 29:32Speaker 03

  That was the moment that I think I, you know, I really cherished that. Because the rest of the stuff's all fleeting, right? Like, all, all the, that's a very fleeting moment. It's incredible, very fleeting, but that, that moment, I'll cherish that moment with, with my kids and, and with my wife.

• 29:46Fred Taylor?

  You have an opportunity to reflect on what would that have been, 19? The, the ACL and the rehab and all that stuff?

• 29:54Speaker 03

  Yeah, and like, yeah, thinking through the journey of all that, right? Because I mean, I don't know if you guys have heard, like, I walked off that field in the, you know, 2018 season, the 2019 Super Bowl, and I walked off that field- But just the clearest vision that this was gonna happen again, but that I was gonna get the opportunity to be a part of it. And, you know, being able to see myself up on that stage, being, having played a, you know, vital role in, in the game and, you know, being able to walk out, out there with a Super Bowl MVP, having won a Super Bowl like that, being able to walk out there, having that experience. And, you know, my wife and I were the only ones, I, I told my wife, once you got to the playoffs in 21, that this is what was gonna like, I said, you don't need to worry

• 30:38Speaker 03

  about like the next two games, like, I've already seen how this whole thing plays out. And, and I, I had, I couldn't tell, like, I kept that to myself, like, the only person I felt comfortable telling was my wife.

• 30:50Ryan Clark?

  Yeah.

• 30:51Speaker 03

  And being able to say like, this is gonna happen. So I'm on the stage and they're presenting the Super Bowl thing, I, I, they've told me before, I'm, I got MVP, I can, I'm like, I, I gotta find my wife to like see her. And right as they announced it, I saw her poke her head through, uh, right in front of the stage. And I just watched her the entire time as it was announced and just like, the water just starts pouring out, right, like, I, I, I'm looking at her and as he's announcing, I'm like, I told you, like, this is, like, we're the only people that knew that this was coming. But it was, it was just the wildest thing to be able to experience that, you know, together.

• 31:30Ryan Clark?

  Bro, that's, that's nuts, you know, and it's such an interesting story with you and your wife. You were a kept man. You know what a kept man means?

• 31:38Speaker 03

  Hmm.

• 31:39Ryan Clark?

  That means that your old lady was taking care of you.

• 31:40Speaker 03

  Oh, yeah.

• 31:41Ryan Clark?

  You know what I mean?

• 31:42Speaker 03

  Yes.

• 31:43Ryan Clark?

  But to, to, to meet someone at a track meet, to say to yourself, I'm gonna marry this person, she goes off to college, you was like, hey, bro, like, I'm finna marry you, so you being off in college down in Arkansas, that ain't gonna work for me, come back here. You know, she, she, she's back. You guys put up a sign up sheet for a wedding, that's a very college thing to do. How did that work anyway? How did the sign up sheet?

• 32:05Speaker 03

  It was what it sounds like. It was a piece of paper.

• 32:10Speaker 03

  Winning guests, like, tell us you were coming. Write your name, all the things, put it up on the board in the locker room. You just sign it.

• 32:17Ryan Clark?

  That ain't sexy.

• 32:19Speaker 03

  It's college.

• 32:20Ryan Clark?

  It's college.

• 32:21Speaker 03

  It's college.

• 32:22Ryan Clark?

  But, you know, being able to be with your wife, being able to be with your boys, like, that's amazing. Some people meet their wives when they're already who they are. Like, you could have met your wife when you were already Cooper Cup. When you had signed a new deal, what was it, 2020 or whenever it was. But you met your wife when you were living or trying to live this dream. And she was a part of living that dream with you. When you think back on all of her sacrifices, how much more satisfying does it make looking at her, knowing that you were the only two that knew this moment was coming? But also, you were the two that sold that much into that moment?

• 33:03Speaker 03

  That's why that moment was so special, is she was a part of every part of this. Like, every challenge that we've talked about, she was a part of every piece of that. She was there for me when things are challenging. She's the first person that I'm talking to. She's the first person that sees me at the lowest of lows. She's seen my absolute worst parts. And she's stood beside me and she's lifted me up through all of them. And going back, when we got married, we joined our bank accounts together, right? And it was my sophomore year. And her dad's there with us because he was cosigning on her account, right? So we're sitting there in front of her father, who is, you know, signed on for accepting me into the family.

• 33:46Speaker 03

  I had to have this bank teller look at our bank account, look at me and say, "I know you guys want to join this bank account, but you only have $3. Can I just give you this? I can just give it to you here." Like, how embarrassing that is.

• 33:59Ryan Clark?

  You had $3?

• 34:00Speaker 03

  I had $3 in my bank account. And I had to sit there and be like... This is new son-in-law. Like, yeah, this is me.

• 34:09Channing Crowder?

  He didn't come with shit.

• 34:10Speaker 03

  No, yeah, nothing. I didn't come with anything. You know, but like, but we worked through all that stuff together. Like, you know, I, it wasn't from lack of work. I mean, I'm, it's, you're FCS, you're, you're a student athlete. I don't have time to get a job. I work in the summer, you know, landscaping and all the different, whatever I can find, basically. You know, like, you just don't have time for that. But we went through all that stuff together. Like, she knew me when I had nothing, when we had nothing. And she was with me all the way through and has been a part of, you know, standing beside me and, and through all that. So that's what made that so special was all that, all the, the, the depth of what that, our relationship is, uh, made that moment really special.

• 34:49Speaker 00

  Are your ad campaigns lighting up the dashboard? But not the pipeline? That's bull spend and marketers are calling it out in. Dashboard Confessions.

• 34:58Speaker 01

  My boss asked for results, so I opened my dashboard for the only positive sounding metric I had. Impression.

• 35:06Speaker 00

  Cut the bull spend. See revenue, not just reach. LinkedIn delivers the highest return on ad spend of major ad networks. Advertise on LinkedIn. Spend $250 on your first campaign and get a $250 credit. Go to LinkedIn.com/campaign. Terms and conditions apply.

• 35:19Channing Crowder?

  And you, you had the rookie deal, which was cool. Then you hit him. What, what was, what was that conversation like? With your wife, like, to see the $3, she brings it in, she had bread, but it's kind of like, I'm not saying that now you're contributing, but it's like, we worked through so much together. And now that, like I said, you done hit him. Like, yeah, I want to hold $10 if you got it.

• 35:42Speaker 03

  When she was carrying the load and she was the one that was basically providing for us to survive and be able to eat. You know, like, it wasn't ever a thing where, you know, every dollar that came in, we just felt like was ours. Like, how can we be a good steward of whatever money we have, right? The bank account is just the bank account. You know, it's the same thing for us. And I was like, I, like, she didn't hold anything against me. I don't hold anything against hers. Like, now, now the bank account's the same bank account. It's just the numbers are a little bigger. You know, like, it's the same, we're going to live this thing. We're going to do it the same way in terms of how we're going to navigate it together and try to be a good steward of whatever that is.

• 36:17Ryan Clark?

  Coop, you know, you can, you can actually really dress, right? And in watching you choose clothing, you don't choose clothing like someone that would be from where you're from. Right? Also, not like somebody who only had $3 in their bank account.

• 36:33Speaker 03

  Oh, yeah.

• 36:33Ryan Clark?

  At, at one time.

• 36:34Channing Crowder?

  He done been around black dudes too much. I know what you getting at.

• 36:38Ryan Clark?

  So, so I was reading.

• 36:40Channing Crowder?

  I got with black dudes, man.

• 36:41Ryan Clark?

  I was, I was, I was reading, right? I think it's Coach Dumas, I think is his name. He called A.C. Davis the hood school. Is there actually hoods where you're from? Because it was like the west side? And he's like, we kind of went to school in the hood.

• 36:55Speaker 03

  Yeah, okay. So, yes, would be the short answer. So, Yakima, at a time, I'm sure they've, they're, they're figuring some stuff out. There was a point in time where Yakima was like, top 10, whatever, whatever rate per capita, I don't know, whatever it is. But like, whatever rankings, we were like, top 10 in obesity and top 10 in crime. Right, so it, there was, there was a point in time where there was a low point there, right? Where like, those are the two, those are two rough things to be in the bad spot of, right? And...

• 37:28Ryan Clark?

  Fat people and bad people?

• 37:31Speaker 03

  Yeah, just out of shape people and, yeah.

• 37:35Channing Crowder?

  He was supposed to be a fat criminal.

• 37:38Speaker 03

  That's not why I didn't say that. It was just, it was a bad period of time for Yakima. So, like, where I went would have been deemed as like, the, yeah, the school that's, you know,

• 37:51Speaker 03

  not, not, not, not, not as good of a school.

• 37:54Ryan Clark?

  Really? He had a Supreme Court justice that went to school there? He has a statue.

• 37:58Speaker 03

  William Douglas.

• 37:59Ryan Clark?

  Yeah, one day you probably get a statue. So, it'd be a Supreme Court justice and one of the best wide receivers of his era. And even though you do get the hard worker, lunch pail, smart, understands offense, understands defenses, you actually worked to do that. You studied a lot of Fitz, a lot of A.J. and a lot of A.B. In preparing to become your own Cooper Cup. Can you take me through why you picked those three guys?

• 38:32Speaker 03

  Yeah, well, one is because my agent said, hey, you're going to get asked who you can pair yourself to with the thing. So it's like, I gotta spend some time actually thinking about. But those are guys, I watched a lot of, a lot of guys. But I honestly did think Fitz, I loved watching Fitz because when I was watching, so the triple stick. The triple stick is something I've incorporated to my game. I guess it's a big part of how I operate in terms of my mentality, running routes, right? And Fitz, I saw Fitz do it one time in practice. We had, I don't know how, but Eastern Washington, we've got like some kind of weird link into the NFL. And we're getting all these kind of practice film and stuff. I might get him in trouble actually for saying this. I don't know if they still got that connection.

• 39:14Speaker 03

  But I saw Fitz run it in practice and I said, I want to make that part of my game, right? And so, so yeah, so the first time person I saw do it was Larry Fitz. I loved the tools that he was using. And as his, as his career went on, he just, again, he kept reaching deeper into his tool belt to find ways to separate. And Dewey did, and that's why he was able to be productive for so long. You got A B plays the exact opposite of, you know, Larry Fitz. He's in terms of the tool, I mean, you got Larry Fitz is 6'3", 220. A B's not playing like that, right? He's playing, he doesn't want people to touch him. You know, he keeps his, keep people's hands off of him, plays quick, uses his quickness. I, I love how he played the game and the suddenness that he played with.

• 39:56Speaker 03

  And then A J Green was someone that I thought, like, I had arguments with my coach all the time between A J and Julio. Who do you like more? And I was like, look, Julio's an alien, right? Like, there's no one's, no one's going to be like Julio. Like, I can't watch Julio and be like, oh yeah, I can do that. You know, I'm not pulling anything from Julio film, but I can watch A J. Like, I can pull some of this stuff. And, and now he's in his own right, he, he was a freak athlete, special dude. But he used some, some technique stuff that I thought was pretty special, so. That's why, that's why those were.

• 40:26Fred Taylor?

  Really quick, looking at, talking about receivers, we talked to Les Snead earlier during practice, and we asked him, how does he go about scouting and finding guys in later rounds? Guys that end up being the best, you know, top, some of the best receivers in the entire NFL. If you had to go and scout yourself, right, coming into the NFL, what would you throw on the board as strengths and/or potential weaknesses?

• 40:52Speaker 03

  I would say, you know, route running and football intelligence, understanding the game, I think all would be something I pride myself on, so I put that as a strength. Weaknesses, tough.

• 41:04Fred Taylor?

  You ain't got.

• 41:05Ryan Clark?

  At least you didn't do this, at least you didn't do this. You know my weaknesses? I care too much.

• 41:08Speaker 03

  Yeah, no, I didn't do, I'm not gonna do that. No, weaknesses are.

• 41:11Fred Taylor?

  Hope that's B'Jon.

• 41:12Speaker 03

  I was, okay, obviously, like, I would say, like, everyone did, probably, top end speed was not my, not, was like, you just don't see that. That was not, that's not my forte, right, so it's top end speed.

• 41:24Fred Taylor?

  Can you have, is there, I mean, I, I think I know the answer to this, but 40 times in, in actual game speed, you got game speed?

• 41:32Speaker 03

  Yeah, no, and I think that's, a 40 time, me and the 40 time have like a weird relationship. Like, like, that thing, that thing screwed me pretty tough. Uh, you know, I felt like I was coming out of the Senior Bowl and, it's like, you know, you're looking for momentum, right, you're trying to build momentum towards the draft. Les had told me he was drafting me at 36. Then I ran my 40 time, and I didn't hear from the Rams for a while, right? And like, now I know that around that 40 time, and Les is pumped because he gets to trade back until, you know, the third round, and he can pick me up there. And he's told me, he's like, you know, look, you're a wide receiver from a small school that ran a slow 40, like.

• 42:14Ryan Clark?

  Easy.

• 42:14Speaker 03

  Easy, I'm moving back.

• 42:16Ryan Clark?

  Yeah. Was that why your, your call was so boring? Like, when he calls you, like, are you ready to be around?

• 42:22Speaker 03

  You wanna know why? It's because my wifi calling was off, and I got, I got, I was hearing like, two words from, like, like, it's like, eh, eh, eh, eh. So I'm like, trying to answer these questions, I'm like. Look, man, I, yeah, I can't wait to be there. I don't know, I don't know what you're saying. So, yeah, I know, I didn't hear much of Les or Sean or anything on that phone call because my side was just cutting out.

• 42:45Ryan Clark?

  Because they replayed it and like the only cool thing you said was like, "I love nothing more." And the rest of it was like, "Yes, sir. Yes, sir."

• 42:52Speaker 03

  Yeah, I couldn't hear a thing.

• 42:53Ryan Clark?

  I was very disappointed.

• 42:53Speaker 03

  So you're just like, "Yep, yes."

• 42:55Ryan Clark?

  So now, you fast forward past all that. You guys overachieved last year in him talking about scouting yourself from college. You get a guy, Puka Nacua, many of the same things. Extremely tough, extremely intelligent, catches balls in traffic, and he comes along, he's the Rookie of the Year, breaks records, sets records much as you had, you know, at times in your career. You have a good run game. You lose AD defensively. So this team is sort of in transition in a way and has a core. What are your, or what is the outlook of this team this year at the competing in a year that many people thought you'd be down?

• 43:37Speaker 03

  I think the cool thing about last year was it forced everyone to, you know, stay within the building. The expectations are within the building. It doesn't matter what, like, don't look outside the building because they're, you're not going to hear anything good, right? So it forced a lot of people, and we had 40-something rookies last year at training camp, forces everyone to say, "Hey, this is about us, like this group. What can we do? What are our expectations? What's our process? And let's go, like, put our product on the field." Now, like, it's flipping a little bit, right? Like, people want to talk about us a little bit more. You might see, you know, the Rams up on the TV a little bit more. But for us, like, we just learned, it's not about what, doesn't matter what they say. Like, we learned on the flip side last year. Like, it doesn't matter what's being said about you, it's about

• 44:20Speaker 03

  our product and what we're doing in the, in the walls of our building. And so, you know, now we're going into this transition year, things are changing, but, you know, it's like, don't listen to anything else. It doesn't matter. Like, whatever else anyone's saying, whatever Ryan Clark's, you know, spewing with Stephen A. out there on the...

• 44:36Ryan Clark?

  Talking bad, talking bad about you.

• 44:37Speaker 03

  You know what I'm saying? Like, yeah.

• 44:38Ryan Clark?

  Say great things about us.

• 44:39Speaker 03

  It doesn't matter. But that's, but that's almost worse for us, right? Like, stop talking about us. We don't want to be talked about. We want to just handle our, our business. Because of what we went through last year, I think we guys are in that good mindset now. We're like, you know, we are in transition. There's all this different stuff that people want to talk about, but it's like, hey, we're a new team. We're 2024 Rams. How are we going to handle our business?

• 45:00Speaker 07

  The new LinkedIn Hiring Pro can't undo your last hire. The human postponer. They were the master of one phrase. I'll circle back on that. But three months later, you were the one doing all their work and wondering how big that circle is.

• 45:14Speaker 07

  But LinkedIn Hiring Pro can take the hiring load off your plate. By automating the hiring busywork from the initial job post to scheduling interviews. Hire right the first time with LinkedIn Hiring Pro. Post a free job today at LinkedIn.com/quality.

• 45:30Channing Crowder?

  I just, I gotta ask you, because it's a person we all love, spent time with him. And you said the guru thing, like they put different names on them. Well, how special is Sean McVay? Like, because I know y'all have a good relationship. He's actually talked about you before, but just to sit down with a guy like that and be able to have him in your corner when you're, when you're breaking out film, when you're looking at football, because Sean's special.

• 45:54Speaker 03

  All that stuff. I owe so much to Sean and challenging me. I don't know what you're like. You like studying film, right? I came out of high school, I'm like, I got this football thing figured, like I know all this stuff. Then you get to college and you're like, oh, I don't know anything. And then I come out of college, I'm like, now I know football, I know all this stuff. You go with Sean and you realize, oh no, again, I don't know anything. And it's like this, like he challenges you and pushes you to grow and like, understand what's happening, why our defense is doing what they're doing. It's not just, cover three is not just cover three. Cover four is not just cover four. Like, there's reasons to everything and there's, you know, rules and like the nuances of all these different things. And he wants to know all that, he wants to understand it, and then he wants to dissect it and destroy it.

• 46:35Speaker 03

  Like, he wants to, you know, destroy it from the inside out, like, you know, and that's such a cool thing to be a part of as a player. As long as you're in that place where you can understand, like there's some things that will slow you down, you know, too much. And so you have to sift through some of that stuff, but like. If you can get to this place where you understand some of those things and be able to allow them to, you know, become competent subconsciously with what some of those things are, it just helps you play so much, you know, so much more efficiently. So, I appreciate him and I mean, just from a, you know, he was, he was my age when he was leading the LA Rams, right? Like, his first year, he was as old as I am right now. Stepping into the building and what he's learned, and he'd only been calling the offense, I think, for like two or three years before that, right?

• 47:18Speaker 03

  So, what he's done now in the last eight, seven years now, like, what he's built is incredible. And, you know, you gotta give him credit for just the people he's brought around, the culture he's established, and then as a play caller, like, being able to adapt and move and change as the years have gone on. And it's pretty special how he's able to do things. And, I mean, even just thinking, like, back to the Super Bowl, right, like, we're getting shut down for that whole, like, the game plan's changed. We hit the six minutes, he gathers us together, he's like, "Hey, we're gonna go down and score." You guys have seen probably the mic'd up of all, you know, like, he brings us together. And that moment, that was, it's the one time in my career I've ever said, "Just give me the ball." Like, I've, it's

• 48:02Speaker 03

  never been my thing, but before that drive, was the first time I ever was like, "Just, whatever you do, just give me the ball. I gotta find a way." And Sean's ability now to adjust all the game plan, all the things that we've done, all the two weeks of buildup and training, all the practices and everything, and be able to find a way to string together a 15-play drive that's, you know, within our game plan, but finding a way, like, "Hey, they've been taking away all game," to find a way to give me the ball, you know, consistently throughout that drive, and then be able to get down to the, you know, and punch it in. Um, I think it just shows kind of a little bit of his ability, I mean, in that moment, to be able to adjust and know how to attack a defense that really had our number.

• 48:43Ryan Clark?

  I'm a Cooper Cup, uh, daily grind clip watcher.

• 48:46Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 48:47Ryan Clark?

  Right? Because it's a very, the clip shoot posts at least are very mindset-based, right? It's not necessarily, it doesn't have to be, uh, specific to anything, to any job, to any goal. It's just, okay, if you approach life in this way, these things can be applicable. You talked about the journey and the destination being the mountaintop, and how at the mountaintop... Was the only focus of the journey. You miss all of these things in between, right? The destination is so important. You miss all of these things that built up to it. You can't truly enjoy it. So you enjoy it, but it doesn't change that now you're at the mountaintop. Right? It doesn't change that now you have reached the pinnacle. And you either have to get down and maybe you stay down forever,

• 49:31Ryan Clark?

  or you have another climb. You are still looking at another mountaintop.

• 49:35Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 49:36Ryan Clark?

  What is that for you now? You've accomplished so much individually. You've accomplished everything you're supposed to as a team in one year. What are those mountaintop goals for Cooper Cup?

• 49:49Speaker 03

  That's a good question. I think there's always, there's an easy answer. Every year, like every year is, in a way, it's a new opportunity. Right? It's a new chance to climb a new mountain. The ultimate goal of any season is to win a Super Bowl. So there's always going to be that piece of it. I think as a, as like a daily reminder for me, something that I knew was so valued as a young player in this league, were the guys that every day poured into me. That like took the time to, you know, teach me the game, to show me how to do it right. And whether that's with a word of encouragement or just the way that they handle their business. When I watched film together, we watched film together and it's like, I want to play like that guy.

• 50:33Speaker 03

  That's something that to me, I think is really important to me, is to pay that forward and to show guys that, you know, what I've got in my room now. If you want to be successful in this league, here are some of the things that have helped me. And, you know, if there's any word I can give you that's, I feel like is going to give you an edge, I'm going to give you that word. You know, if there's anything that you're seeing on film, I want to be able to answer those questions for you. I want you to be, I want to model the way for you with how I handle my business. When you see me in the meeting rooms, when you see me in the weight room, when you see me on the field, that you're going to be able to look to someone that's doing things the right way. I had Robert Woods for me that modeled the way for me. And I always wanted to be, I want to compete like Robert Woods does.

• 51:16Speaker 03

  I want to prepare the way that he does. And so a big goal for me in the journey that has brought so much fulfillment and joy to my life has been just, you know, being able to pull my arm around some of these young guys that have come in this league and be able to truly enjoy just them being successful and seeing them grow. Into great football players and to great men. That's just been some of that for me has been incredibly valuable and a journey that I've I've found a lot of fulfillment in.

• 51:48Fred Taylor?

  What has been or what is Cooper Cup's biggest pivot?

• 51:52Speaker 03

  Biggest pivot?

• 51:53Fred Taylor?

  That one moment that happens that without it happening, you wouldn't be who you are today.

• 52:00Speaker 03

  Right before that conversation I had with my dad, right? It was earlier that year. It was right before Christmas, about to leave for like last day of school to the balcony for Christmas break. And we're at P E, I've got a basketball tournament that night. I'm in P E and I'm like gassed. I'm we're playing basketball, I like my legs are just jello. Like what in the like this has never happened to me. I hadn't played basketball for days. I don't know what's going on, whatever. Just get home, get started on this basketball game. I get to this basketball game and I'm like having to tap out. I'm like tapping out for the I'm like, coach, I can't. I can't do it. My legs are gone. Next game, same thing's happening. I'm at the free throw. I'm like getting ready to box out for a free throw and I like dropped to my knees. My legs just give out.

• 52:45Speaker 03

  I'm like, I have got nothing. I'm in sixth grade, but like I have no idea what's going on. They're like, all right, pull me out. My dad's like, I think you're dehydrated or something like, I don't know what's going on, but he's got Pedialyte. I'm like chugging Pedialyte. I'm I go, I walk up the stairs for lunch and I pass out on the floor. What in the world is going on? I can't figure it out. Well, this goes on for a few days. Found out that I had stomach ulcers and I had lost about 60% of my blood. And by the time I got to the hospital, I was eyes rolled back in the car. They're taking me to the my parents are taking me to the car. And I've I got out of body experience. I'm I'm watching, I described this to my parents afterwards.

• 53:28Speaker 03

  I'm like, I saw everything happening from about 10 feet above. I'm looking down at myself, I'm laying in the back of the of the car in a feeble position. They're driving me to the hospital. I'm like seeing the nurses take me, put me in the bed, shoving IVs in me and everything. And then I like pop back into my body. Pow.

• 53:45Speaker 03

  And over the next three days, they're just pumping me back full of blood because they're like a few hours, it would have been over. And I think there was a coming back from that right about at the same time as my dad. You know, I come back from this thing, I'm like, okay, we got things under control. We're back. And my dad has that conversation with me and the mindset of that moment now, like moving into sixth grade, seventh grade, eighth grade, and just, you know, the mindset of how I was going to approach athletics, right? That'd be the first pivot, I think. My second pivot is when I met my wife. When we started our journey together and having someone else now, like I had been

• 54:28Speaker 03

  had this mindset and I had this thing that I was going after for me, but when it shifted to I'm doing this for us, that was a huge, again, mindset shift that I think just became so much more powerful. And the like this belief that the things that you believe in, the things that convict you, when you're doing them for yourself, I think they that's one thing. But when those convictions become something that you do for someone that you love and a part of something that's so much bigger than yourself, that's when those things, I think, become supercharged. Then being able to do that and that journey together, like we've talked about here, like that is what ultimately took me to where I wanted to go, you know, and where we got to go together.

• 55:10Speaker 03

  And I mean, we've talked, I've talked at length about what she's meant to me in that journey as well, but that would be the, I think that would be the, that would probably be the big pivot.

• 55:20Ryan Clark?

  Love it. The last thing that I would love to hear is you speak about faith a lot and faith is obviously the, you know, substance of things hoped for and evidence of things not seen. To be able to see that, right? And remember so vividly what you saw in that car. How often, when your faith is challenged or when adversity hits, do you think back to that moment and how much it could have ended your life and ultimately how much it changed your life?

• 55:56Speaker 03

  Yeah, I, you know, I, I think in those moments, I

• 56:02Speaker 03

  Those experiences and the things like, you know, if you went into a mission field, you might see some crazy things that you couldn't explain, right? And there's lots of miracles I think have happened in this world. But I don't think that miracles create true faith, right? They're something that I think can be a part of it. But in those challenging times, I don't think of those crazy things that like I can't explain. I think of the people that I have in my life that have meant so much to me. I think the relationship I have with my wife, the relationships I have with the people that God's put in my life. How He's put people intentionally in there to have a word for me, to show me the way, the way He's talked through people and worked through people.

• 56:44Speaker 03

  And ultimately, I go back to just what's in my chest. Like, I just, I've, a piece of Him is within, is in me. And I, I know what's true and what's, what's real. And that's where things go. When it's tough, it's going back to I know where my identity lies. And, you know, I think I've gone through some crazy stuff. Like, I've gone through, I've seen some wild things, some things that I can't explain, whether with the vision of the Super Bowl, or, you know, going through that moment in the hospital. But, but it's not that. It's not that. It's intrinsic. It's, it's a part of the journey of, just like my relationship with the people that I love, it's my relationship with Christ. And that's, that is in its own thing, you know, where I fall back on.

• 57:28Ryan Clark?

  I love that. I'm gonna tell you what, man, that was, that was excellent, man. You can't beat that. I'm gonna be honest, I'm gonna tell you why you got a lot of faith. Hey, nah, nah, cut him off.

• 58:13Speaker 08

  Ask your prescriber about Wegovy. Someaglutide injection 2.4mg a GLP-1. Call 1-8334-WEGOVIE or visit wegovie.com to view the medication guide and to learn more about Wegovy. Why wait? Wegovy.