Kirk Cousins is hurting the Minnesota Vikings with outrageous anti-vaxx stance
Kirk Cousins' stance relating to COVID-19 is, to say the least, questionable. In an interview before the start of the 2020 season, Cousins gave a statement in regards to catching the virus that went viral moments after:
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. If I die, I die. I kind of have peace about that.”
A year ago, having this mindset would've been forgiven, in that there was no vaccine available, the pandemic had ravaged the world for six months already, and the NFL season was close to the start.
But Cousins' stance right now in regards to the league's protocols and vaccines is troubling. With the 2021 NFL season set to begin and the spread of the Delta variant leading to a rise in cases in the U.S., Cousins is making clear that his personnel decisions are more important than everyone's well-being.
Cousins' stance is actively hurting the Minnesota Vikings
The fact that Kirk Cousins chose not to vaccinate himself is a huge cause of concern for the Minnesota Vikings. On Saturday, Cousins had to be placed in the Reserve/COVID-19 list because of his high-risk close contact with Kellen Mond, the Vikings' rookie quarterback who contracted the virus.
Due to the required quarantine for unvaccinated players, Cousins and Nate Stanley, another unvaccinated quarterback, had to miss all the practices for five whole days, leaving Jake Browning as the only option on the roster to play quarterback during practices.
It's safe to say Mike Zimmer was not pleased with his quarterback's decision:
Zimmer was completely right. Without his starting quarterback, practice was compromised. If a backup quarterback is playing with a first-team offense, the whole team loses overall quality. And, to be honest, Browning had a nice practice day, but at the end of the day he's just not Cousins.
Cousins was removed from the COVID-19 list today and answered questions regarding whether his stance had changed after the last five days. He came up with a surprisingly awful idea instead of, you know, just taking the vaccine.
Should I just set up, literally, Plexiglas around where I sit, so this could never happen again?’ I’ve thought about it, because I’m going to do whatever it takes. We’re going to avoid this close contact thing, and look forward to make sure I’m playing every game this year.
Yes, you read that right. Cousins thinks that, as the franchise quarterback of the organization and a leader of his team, he would be better served by having a Plexiglas wall around him instead of just taking the vaccine.
The Delta variant is spreading fast across not only the U.S. but the whole world. Vaccines have been proven to be effective against this specific variant, but for unvaccinated individuals, the risk of becoming a super spreader is much higher now. By the end of July, the CDC estimated that Delta was the cause of more than 80% of the COVID-19 cases in the U.S.
Now, Cousins had to miss almost a week of practice because of the protocols for unvaccinated players. Had he chosen to take the vaccine, he would not have had to miss a single day of practice if he tested negative, even as a high-risk close contact.
But what if this happens again during the season? The Plexiglas wall is not better than a vaccine shot by any means. The consequences, not only for the Vikings but for society as a whole, are massive, and this is only happening because a single individual decided that his personal beliefs are more important than setting an example as the leader of his team to do everything in his power to fight COVID-19.
If Cousins has to miss a game because of high-risk close contact, you can be sure Mike Zimmer will have an opinion about that when deciding his quarterback for 2022. If Cousins tests positive for COVID-19 after he decided not to take the vaccine and miss an important game, Zimmer will be even more upset than he was Saturday.
These are difficult times, but the vaccines are a ray of hope. The light at the end of the tunnel may be within reach, but if the world were to live the Cousins way, we'd all be in glass cages longing for normalcy for years on end.