When Trey Hopkins, the Cincinnati Bengals starting center, was just being a regular human being in Corpus Christi, Texas, he was accused of stealing sunglasses from a gas station. Hopkins was just wearing his own sunglasses on his head.
It didn’t matter that Hopkins would eventually graduate from University of Texas as a four-year honor roll student. It didn’t matter that he would eventually make it to the NFL. It didn’t matter that he was with his family.
At that moment, he was just a Black man in America.
According to Hopkins, who spoke with local media after Friday’s practice at Bengals training camp, it wasn’t the only time he was accused of stealing.