After three members of the New England Patriots already decided to opt out of the NFL’s 2020 season on Monday, three more followed them on Tuesday. Among them was the highest-profile player to make this decision to date: linebacker Dont’a Hightower, a three-time Super Bowl winner and team captain will be one of the players to not take the field this year over Coronavirus concerns.
While Hightower voluntarily opting out hurts the Patriots’ defense — he is one of its best and most experienced players, and has served as the unit’s on-field signal caller for the last few years — the reason for it is not hard to find: the 30-year-old and his fiancee, Morgan, welcomed their first kid not even two weeks ago.