It appears Rutgers defensive back Peyton Powell, a former four-star recruit in his native Texas (he starred at Permian High, the school famously profiled in Friday Night Lights), will leave the program without playing a down for the Scarlet Knights.
Powell, who transferred to Rutgers after beginning his college career at Baylor (he followed position coach Fran Brown from Waco to Piscataway), announced his plans to enter the NCAA transfer portal Tuesday, the result of Rutgers making the COVID-19 vaccine mandatory for all students. Along with Rutgers, nine other Big Ten schools including Illinois, Indiana, Maryland, Michigan, Michigan State, Minnesota, Northwestern, Ohio State and Purdue are requiring vaccines for students returning to campus this fall.
Many high-profile athletes including NFL stars DeAndre Hopkins, Cole Beasley, Cam Newton, Montez Sweat and Kirk Cousins have resisted the vaccine despite the NFL encouraging all teams and players to get inoculated. This divide has been a particular source of conflict in Washington, where coach Ron Rivera, a cancer survivor, admitted to being frustrated at WFT's low vax rate relative to other teams. The Vikings have waged a similar internal battle, reassigning run-game coordinator Rick Dennison following his refusal to get vaccinated. The Atlanta Falcons are the only known NFL team to be 100 percent vaccinated.
A decorated high-school quarterback who landed scholarship offers from Oklahoma, Ohio State, Texas, TCU and Arkansas, the 6’2,” 181-pound Powell has yet to see the field in college after sitting out all of 2020 due to NCAA transfer rules. The rising junior, who mistakenly called Rutgers the “University of Rutgers” before correcting himself on Twitter, had been studying labor and employment relations.
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