Dont'a Hightower -- a 3-time Super Bowl champion and one of the leaders of the Patriots' defense -- has also chosen to sit out this season.
Hightower, according to NFL Network's Michael Giardi, just had a baby this month ... and his mom also has type 2 diabetes.
"Me and my fiancée are just more concerned with the health of our family than football," Hightower said in a statement to NFL Network's Ian Rapoport, "especially the new addition to our family."
The opt-out is a big blow for the Pats, Hightower recorded 71 tackles and 5.5 sacks for New England last season ... but he's also now one of FIVE Patriots choosing to forego the season.
Pats running back Brandon Bolden and offensive linemen Najee Toran and Marcus Cannon have also joined Hightower and fullback Danny Vitale in sitting out 2020.
There could be more on the way as well ... players still have until the end of this week to make opt-out decisions. [Reply]
Terez and Charles Robinson talked about the bubble stuff on their podcast today.
They figured and I'm guessing they heard from some of the NFL people, that for the NFL to bubble like the NBA has done, it would have cost them atleast a billion dollars.
Gonna laugh when the Bills come back down to reality, causing Belicheat's glorious plan to backfire when the Patriots win the division anyway.
He can either trade his entire draft plus picks next year for one of the three QBs or he can suck shit with Cam Newton and Jarrett Stidham for the rest of his career. Just like he said he would. [Reply]
Originally Posted by RunKC:
Donta Hightower, CJ Mosley, Patrick Chung, Nate Solder, Devin Funchess, Eddie Goldman.
Those are important players for their teams.
It pretty much is like injuries every year, but the problem is that along with these opt outs, there’s no preseason games, OTA’s and a different training camp.
That’s going to lead to more injuries IMO. Changes like that can have some consequences, especially if the training camp is watered down (fortunately Andy won’t let that happen with us).
I feel that is more of the players doing it to fuck bill over for a year.
Athletes have it the easiest of everyone to not get infected. Tons of money and franchises spending more to keep you isolated. Outside of people that have family members or themselves with issues, no one should be opting out.
An example is this shooting at the huge house party of the NFL player. They are dumb and compromising their own future and others from this shit.
You would think they wouldn't throw big house parties without masks, cut down on big parties or going out. No to groupies and thots.
Guess that is a mirror of our nation, because most of the country is doing it as well. [Reply]
Originally Posted by Valiant:
I feel that is more of the players doing it to **** bill over for a year.
Athletes have it the easiest of everyone to not get infected. Tons of money and franchises spending more to keep you isolated. Outside of people that have family members or themselves with issues, no one should be opting out.
An example is this shooting at the huge house party of the NFL player. They are dumb and compromising their own future and others from this shit.
You would think they wouldn't throw big house parties without masks, cut down on big parties or going out. No to groupies and thots.
Guess that is a mirror of our nation, because most of the country is doing it as well.
Most of them are at that age where they feel indestructible, and they know that most people in their age group that get it basically recover with no issues, if they have symptoms at all. So I'm not surprised that they are just as dumb about it now as they were pre-covid. [Reply]
Originally Posted by staylor26:
The deadline is tomorrow at 4 pm. It’s highly unlikely that “a lot more“ do.
Also, all of those guys you mentioned are at camp already, so I don’t see why that’s even a concern.
Just about every teams stars will not opt out either. White would be by far the biggest name.
There's a bunch of guys on the fence that are likely waiting until the last minute to decide. It only takes one bonafide star to opt out to really wreck a team's season.
That being said, I hope you're right. I don't want to watch B league football. [Reply]
Originally Posted by RealSNR:
Gonna laugh when the Bills come back down to reality, causing Belicheat's glorious plan to backfire when the Patriots win the division anyway.
He can either trade his entire draft plus picks next year for one of the three QBs or he can suck shit with Cam Newton and Jarrett Stidham for the rest of his career. Just like he said he would.
Without White, the Bills won't be near the team they were last year. A guy like that affects the entire defense. [Reply]