Seattle Seahawks wide receiver Cooper Kupp comes from a football lineage. His father, Craig Kupp, was a New York Giants fifth round draft pick as a quarterback out of Pacific Lutheran in 1990.
He did not get to see much action on the field, getting into just one game for the Phoenix Cardinals (since renamed the Arizona Cardinals) in 1991. But Craig Kupp also spent time with the Dallas Cowboys before hanging up his cleats.
The 32-year-old Cooper Kupp’s grandfather, Jake Kupp, was also an NFL player albeit one with a lengthier and more successful career than Craig. Drafted by the Cowboys in the ninth round — which does not exist anymore — in 1964, he played 12 seasons as an offensive lineman, nine of them with the New Orleans Saints who inducted him into the team’s Hall of Fame. In 1969, the Kupp patriarch was even a Pro Bowl selection.
Cooper Kupp’s football journey took him to Eastern Washington, a school that plays in the Football Championship Subdivision, the second tier of college football. But the Los Angeles Rams drafted him in the third round in 2017 and he put in a solid eight years with that team, including a first-team All-Pro selection in 2021.
But the Rams cut Kupp after last season, and he signed with Seattle.
No one is more familiar with Kupp’s route to get to where ehe is today than his wife, the former Anna Croskrey. The couple were married in 2015 while still in college. Here’s what you need to know about the NFL couple.
They Met in High School and it Was Love at First Sight
At least according to Kupp, he knew immediately that Anna Marie Croskrey was the one he wanted to spend his life with. Both were athletes. Croskrey was a heptathlete and Kupp was on the Davis (Washington) High School track team. She approached him at a track meet but he failed to pick up the vibe, according to how he told the story to the New York Times.
But when they met at the next track meet between their schools, Kupp “pretended to tie his shoes long enough to be within earshot,” he told the Times. He then hit her up for her phone number.
“I was sure I was going to marry her then,” he told the paper.
She Supported Them Both Financially in College
Anna started college at the University of Arkansas but moved to Eastern Washington as a transfer student to be with Kupp — and to help him achieve his football dreams. Kupp worked as a landscaper, but found that the physical exertion it required was draining him when it came to playing football. So Anna stepped in.
“I supported us monetarily through college,” Anna told ESPN.com. “I was working full time so that he didn’t have to worry about that, so that he could focus.”
Her investment of sweat equity certainly paid off. Kupp signed a three-year, $45 million contract with the Seahawks and has career earnings of more than $116 million.
She Became Pregnant During the COVID Pandemic
During 2020, the couple made an extremely difficult decision. The NFL was imposing strict health protocols, and Anna was pregnant. So they made the painful choice to live separately.
“The toughest and most pressing decision was whether to live together as the due date drew closer. If Anna’s labor came on suddenly, their families would not be able to quickly fly to Southern California because they’d first have to quarantine and test,” according to the New York Times article.
So she lived in their recently purchased home in Portland, Oregon, while Kupp remained in Los Angeles.
They Have Three Children, All Boys
The COVID-year baby was the couple’s second. Their first, Cooper Jameson Kupp Jr., – nicknamed “June” — was born in 2018. Cypress Stellar Kupp was born in January of 2021, when the pandemic was still in high gear.
Their third son, Solas Reign Kupp, was born two years later.
Cooper Kupp Credits Anna For His NFL Success
“Without a doubt, there’s no doubt in my mind, not only would I not be here where I am today without her or accomplishing the things that I would be doing,” he told ESPN.com. “I really believe I may not be in this — I may not be in the NFL if it wasn’t for her and what she has inspired in me and pushed me to do.”