CHENEY, Wash. — From 2013 to 2017, Cooper Kupp played for the EWU football team as a wide receiver. During his time in college, he received several Football Championship Subdivision awards including wide receiver of the year three times.
Now, he owns the title of Super Bowl LVI MVP.
His former teammate, Jase Butorac, said the work ethic you see from Cooper Kupp in the league is the same work ethic he brought to Roos Field.
"I do know from what I saw here, it's incredible," Butorac, EWU football's offensive line coach said. "It's probably a little bit said at this point but it's also true, the guy works harder than anyone I've ever met at what his craft is and that's not just a phrase, that's the truth."
Butorac played with Kupp for two years in college. He said Kupp wasn't always the most talkative on the team, but his gameplay spoke volumes.
"You saw the commitment at the end of the day between all the records he did at Eastern," Butorac said as he gestured toward Cooper Kupp's poster on Roos Field. "And he did that last night."
Butorac , along with other Eastern Washington and Cooper Kupp fans, screamed at his TV as Cooper Kupp caught the ball for the game-winning touchdown.
He knows that watching that moment, more than just the student athletes at Eastern Washington, are feeling Cooper Kupp's impact.
"What he has done at Eastern and what he has done truly next level at the NFL, that doesn’t just set the bar or mark for the guys here but it’s for a lot of people across the nation," Butorac said.
He said this won't be the last time we see Cooper Kupp in one of these types of moments.
"His career is just getting started," Butorac said.
Butorac laughed when asked if the football team got the next day off since Cooper won the Super Bowl.
Instead, they celebrated in a way, Butorac said based on his work ethic, Cooper "would have appreciated,": 5:30 a.m. team practice.