Does it strike you as strange that a young couple who have surrendered and sacrificed so much time together in the NFL want to distance themselves from that same sport when the cleats get hung up and the helmet is stored away? It shouldn’t. Much like serving for years in the military, certain vocations command so much of a person’s time that their careers are less about supporting their lifestyles than their lives are about supporting their careers.
For a player whose life has been dedicated to the game of football, almost everything else has had to come in second place. The We not Me mantra is fine for football fans and team ownership to hold as the primary standard. But after years and years of showing up first, leaving last, and controlling every ounce of liquid and every morsel of food that goes into the body, there comes a point when enough is enough.
Life goes on. Whether it’s family vacations, conversations, or simply the needs of one partner to care for their sick spouse, a young family eventually needs more. For a player to flip to coaching, that shackle to the NFL simply slips off the right ankle, only to be attached to the left ankle.
Is Cooper Kupp thinking about retirement, in much the same way his teammate Aaron Donald did? If so, then the Rams are likely looking at Kupp competing for three more seasons, until the end of the 2026 NFL season
