NEW ORLEANS — DeAndre Hopkins’ mom always told him that good things come to those who wait.
But, in the middle of another lost season, a ticking clock on a football career can test even the most patient.
The former best receiver in the NFL is making his first appearance in the Super Bowl with the Chiefs at the end of a trying season that began with the Titans.
Hopkins pulled himself out of a 34-10 loss to the Bills on Oct. 20 — sensing that Tennessee’s season was careening toward the No. 1 pick in the 2025 NFL Draft — and was traded within days.
”I didn’t get benched,” Hopkins said as a point of clarification. “That’s the first time in my career where I was like, ‘Man, I don’t belong out here on this field right now.’ We weren’t winning, no plays were being called for me — not that I’m a player that ever needs the ball, but if I’m on the field I want to be included in something.”
Hopkins, 32, is a five-time All-Pro who averaged 92 catches for 1,222 yards and eight touchdowns from 2014-21 with the Texans and Cardinals. During that time, he experienced two playoff wins — the same amount that he has in the last two games.
Then-Titans general manager Ran Carthon empathized with Hopkins’ frustration.
“I was like, ‘I’m almost losing the love for this game being in this situation,’” Hopkins said with a quiver in his voice. “I could talk to Ran like that because he understands me. He was like, ‘I see it in your eyes that this isn’t the place you might want to be. We had that tough conversation.’ The next day I was traded.”
Hopkins, whose mom was blinded in 2002 when a stranger threw acid in her face, can’t help but see her wisdom in his journey.
“My mama always taught me … have faith,” Hopkins said. “I feel like that’s what I’ve done. Throughout 12 years, I’ve never complained. I never doubted myself. I always knew my abilities even when people were like, ‘DeAndre, you are washed. You can’t go out and make those plays.’ I went in big games and made those catches.”
Hopkins turned back the clock with eight catches for 92 yards and two touchdowns in his second game for the Chiefs.
He hasn’t gotten back to those numbers while rookie Xavier Worthy has emerged and Hollywood Brown has returned from injury to bolster the receiving corps, but Hopkins’ patience isn’t getting tested again.
Making it to Super Bowl 2025 means more than it would’ve when he was on top of the individual mountain.
Perhaps Hopkins’ reward for remaining as patient as he was for as long as he was — through a winding road of 17 different quarterbacks over his first 10 seasons — in a league where receivers are cast as divas is the chance to play with Patrick Mahomes.
For every brief encounter with a Pro Bowler like Deshaun Watson or Kyler Murray, Hopkins caught passes from three Tom Savages or Brock Osweilers.
“This, to me, has more significance,” Hopkins said. “Back then, I had all the accolades. I was All-Pro, Pro Bowl, all that stuff. But I wasn’t playing for [wins]. I would give that up for this – to win a championship – any day.”
