Whitlock: NFL COVID policy turning quarterback Kirk Cousins into Muhammad Ali



You don't have to agree with Minnesota Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins' decision to remain unvaccinated against COVID-19, but you should respect his courage and conviction. It reminds me of Muhammad Ali.

Cousins spent a week in the NFL's COVID penalty box, the reserve/COVID-19 list. A Vikings backup quarterback, Kellen Mond, tested positive for COVID-19. Cousins came in close contact with Mond, and because Cousins is unvaccinated he was sent home and unable to practice with the team. The 32-year-old quarterback missed four practices.

"It was disappointing to miss practice," Cousins said Thursday when he was finally allowed to return to practice. "In my entire college and pro career, I have not missed four practices. So to miss four practices in one week and not have COVID was frustrating, disappointing."

Cousins told the media he remains committed to not taking the vaccine. He said he will follow the league's burdensome protocols for unvaccinated players. This pronouncement has put him in the corporate and social media crosshairs. He will likely remain a target of the vaxx mob throughout the season. Cousins signed a two-year, $66 million contract extension last year. The big paycheck puts a big target on Cousins' back.

There was a time when small segments of the mainstream media would rally around a public figure willing to defy the establishment and risk ridicule.

Muhammad Ali comes to mind. In fact, Cousins' noncompliance is analogous to Ali's bold stance to reject induction into the military. Ali stood on religious principle and common sense.

"I am a member of the black Muslims, and we don't go to no wars unless they're declared by Allah himself," Ali told Robert Lipsyte of the New York Times in 1967. "I don't have no personal quarrel with those Vietcongs."

Coincidentally, Ali never said "no Vietcong ever called me n****r." That's a Hollywood and corporate media fabrication. It was a popular phrase among anti-war protesters that was later attributed to Ali to give the declaration more weight and traction.

But back to Cousins. He and other, healthy, in-their-prime professional athletes have no quarrel with those coronaviruses. No coronavirus ever called an NFL quarterback to a hospital bed. Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson has tested positive for it twice.

Maryland's Republican Gov. Larry Hogan is trying to pressure Jackson into getting the vaccine. He issued a statement two days ago about Jackson's vaxx status.

"With the rules the NFL put down, I can't imagine a team wanting to forfeit a game or lose a chance at the playoffs and none of the players getting paid because someone won't get a vaccine."

The criticism of Jackson will be muted. It's too high risk. He's black and we know corporate and social media fear criticizing black people. That's racist! Cousins doesn't have the right complexion for that connection. His critics are free to lambaste them however they please. Cousins' dad is apparently fair game.

The anti-Trump, pro-Colin Kaepernick Twitter feed Resist Programming spent much of Thursday attacking Don Cousins, Kirk's dad who is a minister at Discovery Church in Orlando, Florida. To his more than 1 million followers, former NBA player-turned-left wing Twitter troll Rex Chapman recirculated a video of Don Cousins complaining during a sermon that it's tough to hear the voice of God because of cancel culture and critical race theory in academia.

According to Twitter, Don Cousins' religious beliefs are a bad look for Kirk Cousins. You know, the same way Elijah Muhammad and Malcolm X's religious beliefs were a bad look for Muhammad Ali.

This isn't about whether you believe in Ali's anti-war stance, or his religious convictions. This is about consistency of point of view. You can't pretend to love Muhammad Ali and hate Kirk Cousins. It's inconsistent.

I can hear my critics. "Jason, it's inconsistent for you to respect Ali and ridicule Colin Kaepernick."

No. It's not. Ali stood on his religious convictions. Whether I agree with everything the Nation of Islam believes is irrelevant to me respecting a man or woman for upholding their religious tenants. Kaepernick, as far as I know, stands on no religious principle. He's a Marxist tool, a communist sympathizer. Black Lives Matter is an atheist movement. Kaepernick's stance was far more opportunistic than principled. Ali actually believed in his actions.

So does Kirk Cousins. His father and Christianity taught Cousins not to be controlled by irrational fear. Fear is what is driving vaccination insanity. Cousins does not fit the profile of someone who could be harmed by COVID. It makes perfect sense for him to be reluctant to inject an experimental, non-FDA-approved drug into his healthy body.

The people pressuring him to do so are not concerned with Cousins' health or the health of Cousins' family. They're concerned about themselves, including Cousins' head coach Mike Zimmer. Zimmer wants things to be easier for the Vikings and himself.

The rest of the vaxx mob just wants Cousins and everyone else to take the same risk they have in taking the experimental jab. It's a cult applying pressure to nonbelievers.

I respect Cousins' decision to stand firm in his beliefs.

NFL coach drags unvaccinated players, Americans after outbreak: 'I'm frustrated with ... everybody'



Minnesota Vikings head coach Mike Zimmer didn't hide his feelings toward unvaccinated players and Americans over the weekend, arguing those who choose not to get vaccinated "don't understand" the risks.

After the team was left with only one active quarterback on the roster ahead of a public training camp session Saturday night, Zimmer expressed palatable frustration while speaking with reporters.

"It's why people should get vaccinated," Zimmer said in reference to the isolated outbreak that led to several players being held out of practice.

"Quite honestly, after everything we went through last year, I'm not surprised one bit," he continued. "I am disappointed that this happened. I'm frustrated with not just my football players who won't get vaccinated, [but] I'm frustrated with everybody [who won't]."

Vikings head coach Mike Zimmer reacts after several players including QB Kirk Cousins are being held out of night p… https://t.co/NKjGTNW1Tk

— FOX 9 (@FOX9) 1627770733.0

According to the Minnesota Star Tribune, "Jake Browning was the only Vikings quarterback available for Saturday's annual night practice at TCO Stadium, after the team's other three quarterbacks were forced to quarantine by the NFL's COVID-19 protocols."

The Tribune noted that starting quarterback Kirk Cousins and backup quarterback Nate Stanley were forced into quarantine after coming in close contact with fellow quarterback Kellen Mond, who had tested positive for COVID-19.

The fact that Cousins and Stanley were forced to quarantine following contact with Mond indicates that they have not been vaccinated against the coronavirus. Under new NFL rules, vaccinated players are not required to quarantine after contact with infected teammates, while unvaccinated players are.

"Something like this happens a day before a game that has a chance to get you to the playoffs or something like that," the head coach went on to say. "This Delta variant is rough. You can see the cases going up every single day now. That's why, for the sake of everybody's health, I think it's important. But some people don't understand, I guess."

Later in the news conference, Zimmer praised sole active quarterback Jake Browning's intelligence. It was not clear whether Zimmer's comments were intended as a dig on unvaccinated individuals, but the inference could certainly be made.

"Jake's really smart. He's vaccinated," Zimmer said. "That helps to be the backup. So, as we move forward here, he's going to get a ton of reps [Saturday night]. I don't go about saying, 'It's going to go a long way,' because we've still got a lot of camp to go, but we'll see. He's out there. He's available. That's important. It's important to be available when you're playing football, a team sport."

The NFL announced last week that nearly 88% of players have received at least one dose of the vaccine. But the league's obvious push to essentially force vaccinations through harsh punishments for the unvaccinated has caused an uproar among some outspoken players and fans.

Last month, Arizona Cardinals star wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins warned that the protocols may cause him to retire.

NFL QB Kirk Cousins gets ripped by media for lack of fear over COVID-19: 'If I die, I die'



Minnesota Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins expressed that he has little fear of COVID-19, even if it kills him—sparking outrage from the media over his dismissal of the pandemic, ESPN reported.

Cousins, during a July interview on the "10 Questions with Kyle Brandt" podcast, said he follows the basic rules governing behavior in the era of COVID-19, but he isn't gripped with fear and anxiety over the virus.

Brandt asked Cousins to rate his COVID-19 anxiety from a scale of 1-10, with 1 meaning "the person who says, 'Masks are stupid, you're all a bunch of lemmings,' and 10 is, 'I'm not leaving my master bathroom for the next 10 years.'"

Cousins replied that he didn't want to call anyone stupid for fear of getting in trouble, but said he was a ".000001."

Here's what else Cousins had to say about his view of the coronavirus:

"I want to respect what other people's concerns are. For me personally, just talking no one else can get the virus, what is your concern if you could get it, I would say I'm gonna go about my daily life. If I get it, I'm gonna ride it out. I'm gonna let nature do its course. Survival-of-the-fittest kind of approach. And just say, if it knocks me out, it knocks me out. I'm going to be OK. You know, even if I die. If I die, I die. I kind of have peace about that.

"So that's really where I fall on it, so my opinion on wearing a mask is really about being respectful to other people. It really has nothing to do with my own personal thoughts."

During a news conference Wednesday, Cousins attempted to clarify his statement in response to the backlash.

"Admittedly, I did not use the best wording and certainly could've articulated it better," Cousins said. "But the heart behind it is no different than it is today. Admittedly, I probably wasn't as clear as I would've liked to have been. But what I wanted to say then and what I would echo again now is that while the virus does not give me a great amount of personal fear, there's still great reason for me to engage in wearing a mask and social distancing and washing my hands as frequently as I can and following protocols set in place, obviously to be considerate and respectful of other people."