NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — DeAndre Hopkins has accomplished a lot in his career.
Hopkins was drafted in the first round of the 2013 NFL draft by the Houston Texans and in 11 seasons, DHop is a five time Pro-Bowler and led the league in receiving touchdowns in 2017.
Now, the Tennessee Titans wide receiver is pursuing his biggest achievement yet: finishing his degree at Clemson University.
“I come from a family where not a lot of people graduated,” said Hopkins. “My father died when I was six months and when I went to school, that was kind of something that I promised my mom and my father. I kind of vowed that I would make both of them proud and graduate. I promised my mom that I would do it knowing that my father would want me to graduate college.”
Hopkins is getting his degree in Parks, Recreation and Tourism management, following his passion for music festivals. His arrival in the Music City couldn’t have come at a better time.
“Before I came to Nashville, always wanted to put on music festivals and country music festivals, growing up on country music, so that was my interest in going into the degree of learning how to manage and facilitate things of that nature,” he said.
So, how does Hopkins find the time for practice and school?
Easy. He’s garnered a lot of support from the Titans and his professors to help him accomplish this goal.
Videos of him in class via Zoom at the Titans practice facility have already gone viral on social media.
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“My teacher that I have now is very understanding of my schedule, which is amazing. Luckily I’ve played in this system before to kind of understand what’s going on where I’m still not having to learn the playbook every week,” Hopkins explained. “So that helps out as well. But, you know, I would say it’s it’s pretty easy man. It’s not the most demanding major. I’m not going to law school.”
However, it’s not lost on him who the studying and long hours are for.
“I don’t think I do it for the support or validation of anyone but myself and my father and my mom.”