By Brandon Simmons
Arizona Cardinals wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins has become the next public figure to take a stand on the vaccine. Thursday, the NFL released a statement on new COVID rules, which included that teams would be forced to forfeit a game if they experienced an outbreak between unvaccinated players. Hopkins – in a tweet that has been since deleted – posted his thoughts about the rule.
“Never thought I would say this, but being put in a position to hurt my team because I don’t want to partake in a vaccine is making me question my future in the NFL.”
Hopkins soon deleted that tweet, but followed up with a few more, including one rescinding his retirement.
What probably ticked off Hopkins was the language put in place. In the league-wide memo, it was emphasized games are not allowed to be rescheduled if there was an out break among unvaccinated players, assuming that the players who have been vaccinated, would not be contracting or spreading COVID. Phoenix Suns guard Chris Paul tested positive for right before the start of the Western Conference Finals, even though he reportedly took the vaccine in February. According to NFL Network’s Judy Battista, over 78 percent of NFL players have had at least one shot of the vaccine, while 14 clubs boast 85% of their players has fully vaccinated.
As the pandemic might be seeing its exit, here comes a pandemic of divisiveness over taking the vaccine. Each side is just as loud as the other when it comes to deciding on whether to take the shot or not. The anti-vaxxers are saying the pro-vaxxers are not thinking for themselves; meanwhile the pro-vaxxers are saying the anti-vaxxers are getting their medical advice from amateur YouTube channels.
For Hopkins, he joins Buffalo Bills wide receiver Cole Beasley, as a few of the NFL players speaking out against the thinly-veiled, implied attempt to make players get vaccinated. Despite their abnormal talents they bring to the field every Sunday, the players are still human and will approach different situations with their own ideas and reasoning. In fact, one of Hopkins’ deleted tweets was about how his girlfriend’s brother got the vaccine and was having issues. However, to the NFL’s point, they had to reschedule quite a few games last season due to COVID, and needed to come up with some sort of plan that would coincide with at least attempting a way to ensure player, and fan, safety for this upcoming season. They are too big of an organization to just wander into the season without announcing some sort of plan after what they experienced last year. Still, Hopkins’ opinion is no different than a friend, co-worker or relative who has expressed their concerns about the vaccine. Obviously, his words hold more weight due to his status as one of the top receivers in the league, but don’t be surprised if more players start voice a similar sentiment about these new rules.