Ryan Clark is tired of the sports media not giving Rams Pro Bowl wide receiver Cooper Kupp his proper credit because Kupp is white.
During a Tuesday appearance on The Dan Patrick Show, the former NFL player insisted that race is playing a part in how the media is looking at Kupp’s standout year.
“If Cooper Kupp were black, we’d all talk about him in a different way,” Clark said. “A lot of times we look at the (skin) color of a wide receiver and we want to compare them to people who they look like, more so than people who they play like.”
Kupp led the league with 145 catches, 1,947 yards, and earned 16 touchdowns.
Clark added that Kupp would be talked about even more if reporters and analysts talked about him as a star player and not just make analogies to other white players.
“Cooper Kupp is not Julian Edelman,” Clark said. “Cooper Kupp is not Wes Welker. Cooper Kupp is in the conversations with the Davante Adams and the DeAndre Hopkins of the world.”
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“To me, Cooper Kupp is a Davante Adams, Justin Jefferson…he’s in the conversations with those type of guys for feel of the game, route running, and catching ability,” Clark said.
“As route running goes, I think he’s one of the greatest that’s ever lived,” Clark insisted. “Cooper creates so much separation with his route running, that I just think it’s so underrated the type of athlete and player that he is.”
Matthew Stafford’s 44-yard bomb to Cooper Kupp in the final seconds of Sunday’s win over the Buccaneers is the reason the team is getting set to play in the NFC Championship game.
Cupp will need to put on a spectacular game against a 49ers team that has a stout defense that will be energized by a crowd that will likely be filled with more of their fan base.
