Kirk Cousins Jokes About His Also-Famous, Actual Cousin: 'I See Our Last Name Pop Up' (Exclusive)

NEED TO KNOW

• Kirk Cousins caught up with PEOPLE’s Janine Rubenstein in San Francisco at the SiriusXM set at Media Row on Thursday, Feb. 5, ahead of the Super Bowl
• The Atlanta Falcons quarterback talked about his own real life cousins— including which one is a fellow professional athlete
• Cousins was featured in Netflix's Quarterback docuseries, where audiences fell in love with his wife, Julie

Kirk Cousins is dishing on his fun family tree — and literal cousins.

The Atlanta Falcons quarterback caught up with PEOPLE’s Janine Rubenstein in San Francisco on the SiriusXM set at Media Row on Thursday, Feb. 5, where he spoke about some other high-profile members of his family.

"I have a total of seven [cousins]," he says. "My dad had one brother, they have three kids. One of them — Jake Cousins — pitches for the New York Yankees. So kind of fun. I see our last name pop up sometimes and it's not having anything to do with me on the TV!"

In June, Jake had to undergo Tommy John elbow surgery — a common procedure for baseball pitchers — that left him sidelined from the 2025 season, according to the MLB.

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And, beyond Jake, the rest of Kirk's cousins come from the other half of his family, he says.

"Then, on my mom's side I've got four. So not a huge family, but just enough to have seven cousins," he says with a laugh, noting that he does sometimes get asked about his relatives due to the nature of his last name.

Kirk — who is working with Great Clips — joined the Falcons in 2024. During the 2024-2025 NFL season, Netflix's docuseries Quarterback profiled Kirk and often featured wife Julie, whom he married in 2014.

"She was really the star of the documentary. People would say, 'You were good. We really liked Julie,' " Kirk quips. "So that was fun too, to have her open up her life a little bit. She tends to be pretty private and kind of shy away from the microphone and the cameras, but [she] came through great in the show and that's just who she is. So it was fun to do that."

Cousins adds that his wife is "a great support" to him, and she really "loves football" which doesn't hurt, either.

"And we got two boys, Cooper and Turner, who are six and eight. They love being a part of it as well," he says of the NFL world. "Hoping we can keep playing a few more years, and they can continue to really enjoy it."

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