Cooper Kupp leads Seahawks receivers, becomes two-time champion | NFL locals
How players from the area’s college football programs fared in Super Bowl 60
Cooper Kupp
The Eastern Washington legend delighted Seahawks fans last offseason when he signed with his home-state franchise, instantly becoming a fan-favorite.
Eleven months later, the Seattle faithful have plenty more reason to celebrate the Yakima native.
Kupp was the Seahawks’ top receiver during their 29-13 win over the Patriots on Sunday in Super Bowl 60 at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara. He recorded 61 yards on six receptions and became a two-time Super Bowl champion.
“Being with this team, being with these guys and the journey this has been, it’s been so special,” Kupp said on the NFL’s postgame show. “I’ve got nothing but gratitude for being here, nothing but gratitude for the guys who embraced me. We got a team where we love one another. It was special from the very beginning.”
Kupp reintroduced himself to the Super Bowl stage early, snagging a highlight-reel catch on the Seahawks’ opening possession. With almost no separation between himself and the defensive back, Kupp reached up and used strong fingers to bring down a 23-yard sideline grab.The ninth-year veteran made three more receptions later in the half and went into the locker room with 44 yards, half of all Seattle’s pass-game production.
Early in the fourth quarter, Kupp reeled in a 9-yard reception to convert a third down. On the next play, Seahawks quarterback Sam Darnold found tight end AJ Barner for a 16-yard touchdown, making the score 19-0.
Kupp’s six receptions and 12 targets were both game highs. Performing this well on the game’s biggest stage and hoisting a second Lombardi Trophy in his decorated career – it wasn’t just another feather in the cap for Kupp and a feel-good moment as he nears the twilight years of his career. It also proved that Kupp’s still got quite a bit more to give.
Kupp didn’t have the most productive regular season, finishing with 593 receiving yards and two TDs, but he provided important leadership, steady blocking and a solid complement to Offensive Player of the Year Jaxon Smith-Njigba. Kupp turned it up in the playoffs, logging 15 receptions for 157 yards and a TD in three games.
Kupp seems to play at his best in the postseason. He shined in playoff games during his eight-year tenure with the Los Angeles Rams, especially in the team’s 2021-22 championship season. The Offensive Player of the Year that season, Kupp earned Super Bowl 56 MVP honors after logging 92 yards and two TDs in a win over Cincinnati.
Kupp struggled with injuries over the following three seasons and his production declined, leading the Rams to release him last March. Two days later, he joined Seattle on a three-year deal.
“It is what it is,” Kupp said after the Super Bowl when asked about the lows of recent seasons and concerns about whether he could still perform at an elite level ahead of this season. ”If you listen to what everyone says you are, you’re gonna be a lot of different things. I know who I am, I know what I’m about, what I stand on. Being a part of this group, being a part of what we built together … that makes it real special. I knew right where I fit in.”
Abraham Lucas
The Seahawks’ starting right tackle, one of the best offensive linemen in Washington State history, Lucas was an immovable object in his first Super Bowl.
The fourth-year pro received the highest Pro Football Focus grade among all players (81.5), according to the site’s initial grades.
Lucas didn’t allow a sack or a pressure in 40 pass-blocking reps. He played every snap, helping pave the way for Seattle’s 141 rushing yards.
Lucas entered the game as the No. 24 offensive tackle in the league, per PFF’s overall grades. He’s been a consistent anchor all season for the Seahawks, playing every game. He signed a three-year contract extension with the franchise before the season, then had his best season yet after struggling with injuries during the previous two years.
After becoming the first four-time All-Pac-12 offensive lineman in WSU program history, the native of nearby Everett was selected by Seattle in the third round of the 2022 draft. He started 16 games as a rookie, then was limited to 13 games over the next two seasons due to injury, but Lucas bounced back admirably in 2025-26.
Lucas joined a long list of former WSU players to appear in a Super Bowl, including notables like 1992 Super Bowl MVP Mark Rypien, Drew Bledsoe and Marcus Trufant. More recently, Jaylen Watson played a key role at cornerback for Kansas City, helping the Chiefs to back-to-back championships in 2023 and ’24.
Christian Elliss
The University of Idaho great started at inside linebacker for the Patriots, finishing the Super Bowl with three tackles (one solo) and one QB hit.
Elliss appeared on 33 of 72 defensive snaps, per PFF. He might not have made a substantial impact in the biggest game of the season, but he can look back on this season fondly after breaking through and emerging as a key player on one of the NFL’s top team’s.
The fifth-year pro started 16 of 19 games, making three starts in the postseason. He made perhaps the play of the game in the Pats’ 10-7 AFC title win at Denver, forcing a fumble on a sack – Elliss’ first of the season – to set up a game-changing touchdown in the second quarter.
Elliss logged 19 tackles in the postseason. In his first season as a consistent NFL starter, Elliss finished the regular season second on the team with a career-high 94 tackles.
He spent last year in a rotational role with the Pats after a couple of seasons as a special-teamer for the Philadelphia Eagles, with whom he appeared in a Super Bowl in 2023, a loss to Kansas City. Before that, he had bounced around on practice squads for a few franchises.
A three-time All-Big Sky honoree, Elliss went undrafted out of Idaho in 2021, but stayed committed to his NFL dream, eventually working his way to a starting role on a Super Bowl team. He cemented himself in rare company in UI history, becoming the 16th former Vandal to play in a Super Bowl and only the third to play in two (Hall of Famer Jerry Kramer, Mark Schlereth), per KTVB.
Kyle Williams
The Pats receiver out of Washington State caught one pass in the Super Bowl to cap his encouraging rookie season.
Williams found some space on an intermediate out-route and snagged a 7-yard reception midway through the fourth quarter. But on the next play, Patriots quarterback Drake Maye underthrew a deep ball downfield toward Williams, and had the pass picked off by Seahawks safety Julian Love.
Williams appeared on 17 of 71 offensive snaps and on every New England kick return, but didn’t touch the ball on special teams.
He also helped bring down a streaker who interrupted the game early in the fourth quarter. The fan broke free from security, but Williams raced across the field, forcing the disrupter to slow down, and security caught up to him.
Williams logged two catches in the postseason, converting a fourth down with a 7-yard reception during New England’s 16-3 wild-card win over the Los Angeles Chargers.
He appeared on 21 of 64 offensive snaps against the Chargers, 22 of 65 in the Patriots’ 28-16 divisional-round win over Houston, and 15 of 64 in the AFC title game, but didn’t record any stats in the latter game.
Williams captured NFL attention during his senior season in Pullman, piling up 1,198 yards and 14 touchdowns.
Drafted in the third round last year, Williams played in every game this season, appearing in a limited offensive role for the first half of the year before the Pats started to expand his snaps, partly due to injuries in their receiving corps. Williams had his breakout game in a Week 10 win over Tampa Bay, catching a 72-yard TD pass. He snagged two more long scoring catches over the next six weeks.
Williams showed flashes of explosive speed and home-run-hitting ability during a promising rookie season, finishing with 209 yards and three TDs on 10 catches. He also averaged 26.4 yards on 11 kick returns, serving as the team’s primary kick returner during a four-week stretch late in the season.
Efton Chism III
The rookie receiver/return man out of Eastern Washington was declared inactive by the Patriots about an hour before kickoff.
Chism saw some reps during the Patriots’ wild-card and divisional-round wins, but he was held out of the AFC championship and Super Bowl. New England didn’t have room for him on its roster when standout receiver Mack Hollins returned from injury ahead of the AFC title.
Chism had one catch for 20 yards during New England’s wild-card win over the Los Angeles Chargers. He appeared on 14 of 64 offensive snaps. The following weekend, Chism appeared on 22 of 65 offensive snaps in the Pats’ 28-16 divisional-round win over Houston, but didn’t log a catch. He returned a kickoff for 20 yards.
In all, Chism appeared in 10 games this season, finishing the regular season with 75 yards and a touchdown on three receptions, all during the final two games, and averaged 23.9 yards on 16 kick returns. The Monroe, Washington, product made his NFL debut in mid-October and held down kick-returning duties for a handful of games.
Picked up by New England after going undrafted, Chism had a strong preseason and survived final roster cuts to make the roster. initial 53-man roster, but his debut was reportedly delayed due to a knee injury he suffered late in the preseason.
Chism was elevated to make his NFL debut on Oct. 12 against New Orleans, getting his opportunity in place of injured return man Antonio Gibson. Chism served as New England’s primary kick returner for a stretch, then saw his offensive role expand for the final two games of the season, after Hollins got hurt.
Chism, who grew up as a Seahawks fan, earned All-America honors in each of his last two EWU seasons to land on NFL radars. The two-time All-American finished his Eastern career with 3,852 yards and 37 TDs on 346 receptions and left the school ranked in the top three of pretty much every program leaderboard for receiving.
Of course, most of the EWU records are owned by Kupp. But Chism claimed the EWU record for catches in a season (120 as a senior in 2024) and set the FCS record for consecutive games with a catch (53).