NFL Star DeAndre Hopkins Deletes Tweet That He’s Questioning His Future After League Announces Harsh Penalties for Vaccine Holdouts
Photo by Maddie Meyer/Getty Images.
Arizona Cardinals wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins posted, then deleted, a tweet saying that the NFL’s new harsh penalties for players refusing to get the Covid-19 vaccine were making him question his future in the league. Hopkins followed up with several additional tweets that expressed his vocal opposition to being vaccinated.
On Thursday, the NFL announced new Covid-19 policies, including the potential for forfeited games and a loss of pay if there is an outbreak among unvaccinated players.
NFL Network reporter Tom Pelissero tweeted a thread highlighting the key points of the new NFL Covid rules:
The NFL just informed clubs that if a game cannot be rescheduled during the 18-week season in 2021 due to a COVID outbreak among unvaccinated players, the team with the outbreak will FORFEIT and be credited with a loss for playoff seeding, per sources.
Massive implications.
— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) July 22, 2021
And the biggest penalty of all for players:
“If a game is cancelled and cannot be rescheduled within the current 18-week scheduled due to a Covid outbreak, neither team’s players will receive their weekly paragraph 5 salary.”
You read that right: NOBODY GETS PAID.
— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) July 22, 2021
“Never thought I would say this,” tweeted Hopkins Thursday afternoon (screengrab below via Sports Illustrated), “But being put in a position to hurt my team because I don’t want to partake in the vaccine is making me question my future in the [NFL].”
He deleted the tweet later in the day, but posted several others, including a very succinct, “Freedom?”
Freedom?
— Deandre Hopkins (@DeAndreHopkins) July 22, 2021
Los Angeles Rams cornerback Jalen Ramsey tweeted that he wouldn’t view a teammate as “bad” if he were not vaccinated. “No pressure from [5],” he added, referring to his jersey number.
I know 2 people right now who got the vaccine but are covid positive.. ??♂️ I’m just saying. I wouldn’t look at a teammate as bad if he don’t get the vax, no pressure from 5️⃣ https://t.co/OGTbKJ1A6Z
— Jalen Ramsey (@jalenramsey) July 22, 2021
Just because my teammate(s) personally decide not to get the vaccine, I won’t think they are a bad teammate. That’s all ?
It’s all love ??— Jalen Ramsey (@jalenramsey) July 22, 2021
Hopkins retweeted Ramsey, who commented that his girlfriend’s brother “had heart problems right after” he was vaccinated, and “[w]hen you stand for something they hate you!”… @jalenramsey My girlfriend brother in the military got the vaccine and had heart problems right after. When you stand for something they hate you! https://t.co/AQD3nBPod3
— Deandre Hopkins (@DeAndreHopkins) July 22, 2021
(Friendly reminder that correlation does not equal causation; just because Event X happens and then Event Y, it does not mean that X caused Y.)
Hopkins also shared a tweet from Outkick’s Gary Sheffield, Jr., in which he praised Hopkins for “standing up for himself.”
“You are hanging his work life over his head into making a decision you support,” tweeted Sheffield. “That’s unconstitutional.”
They love you one minute then hate you the next! Know thyself. https://t.co/aNKbgO5NSK
— Deandre Hopkins (@DeAndreHopkins) July 22, 2021
(Another friendly reminder that there are plenty of restrictions imposed by private companies on their employees that are, in fact, constitutional, such as requiring a valid commercial driver’s license for a truck driver, or more recent court cases upholding the right of hospitals to fire staffers who refused to get vaccinated.)
Whether Hopkins is serious about quitting the NFL remains to be seen. Less than 24 hours ago, he posted a video on TikTok showing him repeatedly vowing he would never join TikTok, only to end with him sheepishly looking in the camera as he said, guess I’m on TikTok.”
@deandrehopkins??♂️ guess I’m on TikTok #summervibes #summerstyle♬ Beggin’ – Måneskin
