Kirk Cousins
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“ ‘If I die, I die.’ ”
That’s Minnesota Vikings $40-million quarterback — $96 million over three years — Kirk Cousins, in an interview on Spotify’s “10 Questions” podcast, shrugging off concerns of contracting COVID-19.
“I’m gonna let nature do its course,” the two-time Pro Bowler continued. “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. “
The NFL Network’s Kyle Brandt, host of the podcast, went on to ask Cousins where he’d put himself on a scale from 1 to 10 — 1 being “masks are stupid, you’re all a bunch of lemmings” and 10 being “I’m not leaving my master bathroom for the next 10 years.”
His response: “I’m not gonna call anybody stupid, for the trouble it would get me in. But I’m about a .000001.” Cousins also said that he does want to respect the concerns of his teammates, coaches and others, but “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.”
The NFL, however, isn’t taking that approach. Teams are following strict guidelines at training camps ahead of the season, which kicks off next week. Masks, in particular, have been heavily emphasized, as has been shown on a weekly basis in HBO’s “Hard Knocks” series.
Watch the interview, with the mask comments at the 12:50 mark:
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Cousins began trending on Twitter TWTR, +5.01% shortly after the interview aired, and mostly not for the right reasons, as critics fired away:
Of course, not everybody was making a big deal out of it:
So far, the NFL, relative to the MLB, has managed to mostly get a handle on the coronavirus, with a total of 10 NFL players and other team personnel out of 8,739 testing positive during the league’s latest testing period of Aug. 21-29, ESPN reported. Four of the positive tests came from players and the other six came from non-player personnel.
The first game of the 2020 season is scheduled for Thursday, Sept. 10 when the Kansas City Chiefs take on the Houston Texans. Cousins and the Minnesota Vikings will start with a rivalry game against the Green Bay Packers on Sept. 13.
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