Calvin Johnson or Cooper Kupp? Los Angeles Rams Quarterback Matthew Stafford Decides
Call Cooper Kupp Optimus Prime ... he just took down Megatron.
Los Angeles Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford offered his offensive teammate his highest compliments on an online talk show hosted on Uninterrupted by yet another blue and yellow helmeted competitor, Jalen Ramsey. Referencing just the de facto privilege Stafford has enjoyed in his targets, Ramsey asked his franchise thrower to decide between the downright historic options he's worked with, namely Kupp and Calvin Johnson.
Stafford and Kupp united to provide not only a Super Bowl title but also one of the greatest individual single-season receiving showings in NFL history in their first year of collaboration last season. But Johnson was Stafford's original favorite target, the two previously working together for seven illustrious seasons with the Detroit Lions before the former retired after the 2015 campaign at the age of 28.
Stafford did what he could to divert the conversation, claiming that Johnson and Kupp were "too different" to compare.
“I would say, out of the box, you open up a toy out of the box, (Johnson) is what you’re looking for. 6-foot-5, 240, 4.3, jump out of the gym," Stafford said. "(He's an) unbelievable player, Hall of Famer, all that. Cooper, not the same out-of-the-box player, but I have unbelievable chemistry with him and I spend so much time with him, we work so hard together on trying to get this thing going in the right direction."
The quarterback, however, let it slip that he truly enjoyed that championship he got to experience with Kupp, a Super Bowl triumph that ended with the receiver earning MVP honors and the game-winning touchdown from one yard out. It was enough to get Ramsey to convince Stafford to choose his current teammate over the recently-inducted Hall-of-Famer.
"I love playing with both of them. Cooper, won a Super Bowl with that dude, had some unbelievable moments in the playoffs with that guy," Stafford said. "Just an unbelievable teammate of mine and a great player.”
Los Angeles' championship trio returns to action on Oct. 30 in a divisional showdown against the San Francisco 49ers.
Geoff Magliocchetti is on Twitter @GeoffJMags
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