WR Cooper Kupp remains invaluable to Seahawks ahead of NFC championship game against former team

RENTON, Wash. (AP) — Perhaps it was because of his ever-growing playoff beard that veteran wide receiver Cooper Kupp felt inclined to comment on how hot it was inside the Seattle Seahawks’ meeting room Thursday.

On a balmy January day in the Emerald City, Kupp stood before a gaggle of reporters in a tank top after cracking wise, just as he has so often in his first season with the Seahawks. But for those who know him best, it’s hardly a facade that Kupp puts on in front of the press.

Rather, it’s an extension of who the 32-year-old Kupp, in his ninth NFL season, is and always has been ahead of Sunday’s NFC championship game between the Seahawks and his former team, the Los Angeles Rams. He is consistently optimistic.

"He’s the same person every day, and you can count on him,” said Seahawks running back Cam Akers, who was also Kupp’s teammate with the Rams. “You can count on him to be exactly where you need him to be at the right time every time. So, consistency, being a true leader without having to say much.”

Kupp’s play did plenty of talking, though, during eight prolific seasons with the Rams. He was not only the Super Bowl 56 MVP, but Kupp also won the 2021 AP Offensive Player of the Year award and the receiving triple crown during that championship season.

Injuries plagued Kupp over his last three seasons in Los Angeles and that contributed to his release by the Rams last year. This year in Seattle, Kupp’s practice repetitions were limited to help him get through a full season, which he nearly did while playing 16 out of 17 games and amassing the second-most yards receiving on the team with 593.

Coach Mike Macdonald has been appreciative not only of the standard Kupp has set for the other Seahawks’ receivers, but his availability.

“Are you surprised that the guy’s put himself in position to play great football? Not one bit,” Macdonald said. “We’ve had a plan for him. Probably earlier in his career, the amount of workload that he would put in on a daily basis, I think that made have taken a toll on him. But he’s been really smart.”

In return, Kupp has been integral not only to the Seahawks’ passing game, but also its rushing attack that finished the season tied for the 10th-most yards (2,096) in the league. Kupp drew rave reviews from offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak and his fellow wide receivers for his willingness to block, which he said comes easily considering his teammates’ eagerness to do the same.

“He’s a phenomenal Hall of Fame brain, and a guy who's made a lot of plays for us," Kubiak said. "He gets a lot of credit for the way he blocks, and he should. But, he’s made some really big plays in the pass game, and we’re going to keep relying on him there.”

While he has been thrilled by the Seahawks’ success in a season in which they had the most regular-season wins (14) in franchise history, Kupp lamented racking up the second-fewest receiving yards of his career in a season.

“At the end of the day, I’m going to go out there and execute what’s asked of me,” Kupp said. “… As anyone would, everyone wants to come in here and have 1,500 yards in a year, everyone wants to score 10 touchdowns. It’s just, you want the ball in your hands.”

Even so, Kupp recognizes the “unbelievable storyline” that awaits him. If the Seahawks are to advance to the Super Bowl, they’ll first have to beat his previous team. As bubbly a personality as Kupp possesses, though, he isn’t one to bring attention to himself.

“We all have a story,” Kupp said. “All these guys that step on the field, they’ve all had a story to get them to this point. They’ve all had this journey of what this year has been for them, what the last few years has been to come to this point. Mine is just 1 of 53.”

And yet, Kupp’s story is one of resilience. It’s the daily grind of overcoming challenges that keeps bringing Kupp back to football, and simultaneously endears him to teammates like Akers, who called him probably one of the “best” he’s ever had.

As such, it’s little surprise Kupp keeps coming back for more football, more camaraderie — and more quips.

“I love every part of coming to work each day, no matter what the ask is,” Kupp said. “I love being around the guys that are here and working towards a common goal together. I love the adversity and the opportunity it presents to rise above things that everyone else says should put you down.”

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Seattle Seahawks wide receiver Cooper Kupp is seen during warm ups before an NFL football divisional playoff game against the San Francisco 49ers, Saturday, Jan. 17, 2026, in Seattle. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)

Seattle Seahawks wide receiver Cooper Kupp (10) makes a reception against San Francisco 49ers cornerback Renardo Green (0) during the second half of an NFL football divisional playoff game Saturday, Jan. 17, 2026, in Seattle. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)

Seattle Seahawks wide receiver Cooper Kupp during a news conference at the team's facilities ahead of the NFL football NFC Championship game against the Los Angeles Rams, Thursday, Jan. 22, 2026, in Seattle. (AP Photo/John Froschauer)

Seattle Seahawks wide receiver Cooper Kupp catches a ball during practice Thursday, Jan. 22, 2026, in Seattle at the team's facilities ahead of the NFL football NFC Championship game against the Los Angeles Rams. (AP Photo/John Froschauer)

BETHLEHEM, West Bank (AP) — Mohamad Al-Assi ran beneath the concrete wall as the sun rose over Bethlehem. His Nikes pounded the gravel, his breath fogging the air as graffiti and paint splatter blurred past with each stride.

The road along the barrier separating Israel from the occupied West Bank makes up a stretch of a marathon route that Al-Assi and thousands of others ran on Friday. The event is open to people in other parts of the world running in solidarity with the Palestinians and another, shorter race was happening in Gaza.

The race, known as the Palestine Marathon, was held for the first time in three years and was among the first big international events in the West Bank since the start of the Israel-Hamas war. Festivals, conferences and holiday festivities that once drew thousands have been scaled back or canceled because of the war in Gaza and heightened Israeli restrictions.

It marked a turning point for Al-Assi, 27, who was released from Israeli detention six months ago. Video from that day shows him gaunt-faced and hollow-eyed, his once muscular legs weakened after more than two and a half years of prison.

He began training in December, gradually upping his mileage every month since. He ran 62 miles (100 kilometers) that first month, and in April reached 135 miles (217 kilometers), according to his account on the tracking app Strava.

He jogs in the morning after his mother wakes him up in their home in Dheisheh, a Palestinian refugee camp made up of graffiti-covered cinderblock homes in tangled alleyways.

“The main difficulties we face are the cars on the roads and the presence of Israeli security forces along the route where I train,” Al-Assi said.

He had to suspend his training several times because of military operations in the camp.

“I would return home feeling hopeless because I couldn't do what I had intended to do,” Al-Assi said.

In the West Bank, runners cannot complete a 26.2-mile (42.2-kilometer) course without hitting a checkpoint or military gate, which is why Friday's marathon route looped around the same circuit twice.

They ran up through the narrow streets of two Palestinian refugee camps and down to a farming town next to Bethlehem where fields are divided by the concrete wall, barbed wire and cameras. The course hooked back to finish at Bethlehem’s Manger Square.

Organizers say the race highlights restrictions facing Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, where checkpoints can disrupt even routine commutes and where open land for hiking, biking and running is increasingly taken by Israeli settlements and outposts.

“Marathon runners anywhere may ‘hit a wall’ under the physical and emotional strain of completing the 42-kilometer race course," they said on the marathon's website.

But in the West Bank, they added, "runners literally hit the Wall.”

At a time when the West Bank’s economy is struggling and in the shadow of Gaza's fragile ceasefire and stalled rebuilding efforts, the atmosphere in Bethlehem was celebratory. Crowds gathered near the Church of the Nativity to cheer runners at the race's early morning start and finish. Bagpipes blared and drummers pounded out traditional rhythms through streets along the route.

On a beachside road in Nuseirat in central Gaza — which is roughly the length of a marathon — 15 disabled people, including amputees, ran a 2K, and a couple thousand of people ran a 5K. Thirteen years after the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees, known as UNRWA, canceled a 2013 marathon because Hamas forbade women from participating, the women were back.

Haya Alnaji, a 22-year-old woman who ran in the 5K, said the number of people taking part reflected that Palestinians in Gaza were determined to live and persevere despite the devastation wrought by more than two years of war.

“All of Gaza loves sports,” she said.

Al-Assi was arrested in April 2023, and imprisoned under administrative detention, which allows Israel to hold detainees for months without charge. Between 3,000 and 4,000 Palestinians are being held under that system, according to Israeli rights groups and the Palestinian Prisoners Society.

In October 2023, Al-Assi was sentenced for transferring money to suspicious entities, a charge he denies. Israel closely monitors money transfers — particularly to Gaza — for fear that funds could end up in the hands of militants. Palestinians, however, say donations and charitable contributions are often swept up in the dragnet. Israel’s military, Shin Bet and Prison Service did not answer questions about Al-Assi's charges.

In Israeli prisons — where detainees routinely complain of inadequate diets — Al-Assi said nearly everyone goes hungry. The weight he lost eroded the endurance built through 10 years of training.

“I have more muscle mass than fat, so when I lost weight, the loss came from my muscles rather than fat,” he said. “This had a major impact on my physical fitness.”

He also had to regain the mental fortitude to run a marathon.

“I was emotionally shattered after spending such a long period in prison,” he said.

On Friday, he collapsed to his knees, bowing and thanking God after finishing second overall, as supporters and journalists encircled him. He dedicated his run to Palestinians still in Israeli detention.

“After 32 months in prison, Mohamad Al-Assi is first in his class!” he shouted through tears, raising his hands and looking up to the sky.

__ Imad Isseid contributed from Bethlehem, West Bank and Abdel Kareem Hana from Nuseirat, Gaza Strip.

A Palestinian amputee runner takes part in the 2-kilometer Palestine Marathon along the coastal road near Nuseirat in the central Gaza Strip, Friday, May 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

Palestinian runners take part in the 5-kilometer Palestine Marathon along the coastal road near Nuseirat in the central Gaza Strip, Friday, May 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

Runners participate in the Palestine Marathon in the West Bank city of Bethlehem, Friday, May 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Mahmoud Illean)

Runners pass by Israel's separation wall as they compete in the Palestine Marathon in the West Bank city of Bethlehem, Friday, May 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Mahmoud Illean)

Palestinian Mohamad Al-Assi, who was released from Israeli detention six months ago, runs past Israel's separation wall as he trains ahead of the Palestine Marathon in the West Bank city of Bethlehem, Thursday, May 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Sam Metz)