National Football League

Super Bowl 2022: Sean McVay, Cooper Kupp talk family, Rams repeat

Updated Jan. 18, 2023 10:46 a.m. ET

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By Eric D. Williams
FOX Sports NFL Writer

LOS ANGELES — On Monday morning, a raspy-voiced Sean McVay appeared a bit tired from celebrating the Rams' comeback victory over the Cincinnati Bengals in Super Bowl LVI Sunday night.

But McVay showed up for the early morning news conference with NFL commissioner Roger Goodell at the Los Angeles Convention Center with receiver Cooper Kupp. McVay was presented the Lombardi trophy and Kupp the Super Bowl MVP award.

"It’s an incredible honor to be here," McVay said. "It’s also tortuous to have a team win a championship and then make you come the next morning and do a press conference this early."

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McVay said it’s special to join his family’s Super Bowl legacy. Sean's grandfather, John McVay, won five Super Bowl rings as a front office executive in personnel with the San Francisco 49ers.

McVay said he looked forward to presenting his 91-year-old grandfather with a Super Bowl ring. That would also follow a family legacy: John gave his three sons — including Sean’s father, Tim McVay — Super Bowl rings.

"He means so much to me," McVay said of his grandfather. "I wouldn’t be in this position if it wasn’t for the legacy he set for our family. You talk about a class man, who treated people the right way and earned everything that he got. I’m just so grateful for him."

At Monday's news conference, McVay did not address the topic of how long he plans to continue coaching. Rumors about early retirement spread late last week, after McVay said he did not intend to be a coaching lifer and mentioned his desire to find a better work/life balance, especially when he and fiancée Veronika Khomyn start a family. They plan to get married this summer.

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After the early exit rumors started, McVay quickly confirmed that he would return to the Rams for the 2022 season. Last week, he said his father did not get into coaching in part because of the experience of his grandfather, who missed family time due to his job as a coach and scout in the NFL.

At the news conference, McVay also did not provide an update on Odell Beckham Jr.’s left knee injury, which he sustained late in the first half of the Super Bowl.

"He really made an impact with those two catches that were huge plays," McVay said. "I think he was in line to have a big game, but it did change some things because they could really home in on Cooper a lot more. Guys inevitably stepped up, as did Cooper and Matthew [Stafford] when we had to have it the most.

"But it made it more difficult. My heart goes out to him. I love Odell and am really grateful for the contributions he made."

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One of the most memorable plays from Sunday’s contest, according to McVay, was watching Aaron Donald seal the victory. The Rams' defensive end pressed Bengals QB Joe Burrow into an incomplete pass on fourth-and-1 from L.A.’s 49-yard line with less than a minute on the clock.

"The one thing you definitely remember is fourth down when they came out in shotgun, and it looked like they were going to throw the football," McVay said. "The play that Aaron made on third down, you felt like he was going to make an impact on fourth down, too. And for him to close it out the way he did was pretty special."

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Just hours after the Rams won their first Super Bowl in L.A., Kupp was asked if the team could repeat as Super Bowl champs.

"Certainly," Kupp said. "If you go into a season thinking you can’t win it all, it would be a pretty depressing place to play from. So certainly you go into every year believing that but also understanding there’s so much hard work that has to be done, so much effort and sacrifice that has to go into that."

Asked about the chemistry he developed with Stafford this season, Kupp said it was based on the time the two put in together.

"I was adding it up in the car on the way here, and just the extra time outside the obligatory time was north of 500 hours this season," Kupp said. "[Then] you get in those moments [in the game], and it becomes second nature."

Wearing a red Micky Mouse shirt, black joggers and Jordans with his Rams Super Bowl Champs hat turned backward, Kupp also talked about what it meant to win Super Bowl MVP.

"Cooper epitomizes what’s right about it," McVay said. "Just the selflessness, the humility and the clutch production that we had to have. It’s unbelievable."

Kupp said he will continue the tradition of the Super Bowl MVP, heading to Disneyland to celebrate soon.

The Rams also plan to hold a parade Wednesday, running from the Shrine Auditorium to the plaza outside the Coliseum peristyle.

For the Rams and their fans, that will be the happiest place on earth.

Eric D. Williams has reported on the NFL for more than a decade, covering the Los Angeles Rams for Sports Illustrated, the Los Angeles Chargers for ESPN and the Seattle Seahawks for the Tacoma News Tribune. Follow him on Twitter @eric_d_williams.

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