LOS ANGELES — Cooper Kupp’s extended family gathered inside Suite 4W-10 when everything came together on Monday night. They could not have asked for a better view (50-yard-line, fourth level), better stadium food (sushi, short ribs) or a better reminder of the stakes (SoFi Stadium will host Super LVI in just under four weeks). As the Rams playoff push began, with Cooper at the center of it, they couldn’t help but wonder. Imagine if …?
About 20 minutes before kickoff, only one problem remained: Cooper’s beard. His paternal grandmother is not a fan. Neither are his parents. But all understand why Cooper went full lumberjack this season, refusing to trim the hornet’s nest that spread across his cheeks and disappeared his chin. He kept waiting for a bad game to start the shearing, not wanting to mess with his 2021 mojo. “But he hasn’t had one,” that grandma, Carla Kupp, said inside the suite.
The Kupps need no reminder of Cooper’s season, but one materialized anyway. While Carla and her husband, Jake, chatted with their son, Craig, and his wife, Karin, the person who brought them all together Monday flashed across the largest video board on earth. It’s not really a video board, even, but more of a video ring, a series of boards connecting to form a marquee worthy of the Rams star-studded roster.
