It took a lot of sacrifices for the Seahawks to climb the NFL mountain in 2025, and what the group went through isn't lost on Kupp.
The road to winning a Super Bowl doesn't begin in the regular season; it begins on that first day of the offseason program, and that was true for the Seattle Seahawks.
For most, it is voluntary, meaning players don't have to attend, but we often see veterans there on Day 1, ready to lay a foundation for what they hope will be a Super Bowl-winning season.
The harsh nature of it is that 31 of the 32 NFL teams will see their season end in disappointment, and all at different stages, but for the Seahawks, they were able to outlast everyone and hoist the Lombardi Trophy in Mike Macdonald's second season as head coach.
They finally climbed the NFL mountain, and what now comes with that is a target on their back each week, as every other team wants to be the one to beat the champs.
But before that can happen, the offseason needs to take place, and for the Seahawks, that means hanging the banner at the facility in recognition of what they achieved in 2025.
And for receiver Cooper Kupp, he's detailed what the moment meant to him on seeing the championship banner be raised at the facility.
"There's moments of reflection, right?" Kupp said via NFL.com. "There's moments of understanding when you see these banners, there's a story and a lot of blood, sweat and tears behind each of them. So, there's a respect for what went into those things and what those stand for, and the journey that they stand for, the hardships that were overcome.
"But also, at the end of that moment of reflection is the period at the end that says, 'Well, now what?' Yeah, that's what it took. This is what that was and now you're in it and you're moving forward, and there's an opportunity to go and be a part of another one."
So a stroll down memory lane for Kupp, and likely every person who was part of that championship win.
But now, with Macdonald and his "run it forward" mentality, as odd as it sounds, 2025 is now forgotten. It doesn't have any use whatsoever.
That can be challenging for a team to move on from their success a year ago, to then start from square one again, but that is exactly what Seattle is doing, and under Macdonald, you can tell this group is once again laser-focused on the task at hand in 2026.
Yes, the championship banner is a nice reminder of the trials and tribulations everyone went through last season, but now the road has begun to climb the NFL mountain again.
