Deandre Hopkins of Kansas City chiefs arrives in New Orleans last weekend.
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New Orleans-Deandre Hopkins has long been at the forefront of fashion in the NFL. It is therefore not surprising that someone asks the wide receiver of the Kansas City chiefs which he planned to wear for the match on Sunday.
Surprise was the answer.
Your Super Bowl 2025 guide: How to look, which occurs at halftime and what is at stake
“My father died in 1992, and he left me a few things. And one of the things he left me was a vision jacket,” he said. “And so I always said that I would wear this mink jacket at my wedding or at the Super Bowl, according to the first show.”
Deandre Hopkins became emotional when he was asked about his outfit on Sunday.
He said that his father had left him a vision jacket when he died – to wear either when D -Hop got married or when he arrived at the Super Bowl. pic.twitter.com/xsloywawm8
– Arye Pulli (@aryepullinfl) February 4, 2025
But as Hopkins said at NPR, family, fashion and sports have always been part of its history. And now, her Sunday Gameday outfit – for the first appearance of the Super Bowl in a career otherwise decorated – was a chance to hear this story.
“My mother has always been a fashionista diva”
Hopkins was an infant in 1992, when a car accident killed his father. It left his mother – who was only 23 years old – to raise Hopkins and her three brothers and sisters alone in Clemson, SC, working two jobs to get out.
However, he said, his mother was still proud of her appearance.
“My mother has always been a fashionista diva. She has kept her nails,” said Hopkins. “Growing up on section 8, having to take care of everything in the house, you grow in projects, but you must always make sure that your living room is pleasant.”
It was his mother who interested him in fashion, he said. When he was in primary school, she took him and her brothers and sisters to a local shopping center to put them in a fashion show for children. “We didn’t have much, but what we did, she assembled it,” he said. “So I think it started there.”
He also loved sport, and was soon an out-of-competition athlete in football and basketball. The local university – Clemson – offered him a football purse to play the receiver. Then, in 2013, he was drafted at the NFL by the Texans of Houston. And soon he planned an outfit for each Sunday match.
Adjustment for the track
At the time, Instagram was still in its early years. And the photographers were not yet aligned to shoot players and their clothes when they arrived to walk on the stadium tunnel, he said. “I was one of the first athletes of football to wear, I would say, interesting things – unique things,” said Hopkins.
During his recruit year, he managed for Club Monaco and estimated that his arrival at the stadium every Sunday was an unrealized opportunity. He therefore asked the Texans public relations team to position a camera to catch his arrival in the locker room.
Nowadays, fashion has a greater presence in the NFL. Each team photography and publishes gameday outfits from their players. And stars like the quarter of the Bengals of Cincinnati Joe Burrow and the wide receiver of the Vikings of Minnesota, Justin Jefferson, walked at the Paris Fashion Week (Hopkins also, of course). And this week, Hopkins announced a collaboration with the men’s clothing retailer Boohoooman online.
He didn’t have a stylist when he started – and still doesn’t. He buys for himself, inspired by fashion in Japan and Europe.
“In this world, playing football, you cannot show who you are so. You have a helmet and a jersey,” said Hopkins. “When I enter the fashion world, it’s more that I am outside there, and I try to leave this show.”
His first Super Bowl
During the 12 years since the start of his recruit season, Hopkins has become one of the best large NFL receivers. He was appointed on five pro bowls and led the league by receiving affected in 2017.
But before this year, he had never played for a franchise that had never won a super bowl, and even less played in a himself. He only went to the playoffs four times before being traded in the chiefs in October in the middle of this season.
“Upon entering my 12th year, there were thoughts where I said to myself:” Dude, will I have a chance to play significant football? “” Said Hopkins. “The organization of the chiefs believed in me, and I am grateful.”
This brings us back to his father’s vintage vision jacket. He was suspended in his closet all these years, waiting for the right time, he said. Hopkins had it repaired for the occasion of Sunday. “It means that a lot to be able to have a little of him with me,” he said.
A look at some of the outfits of the day of the Hopkins match
Deandre Hopkins of the Kansas City chiefs arrived before the AFC championship match against the Buffalo Bills at the Geha Field at the Arrowhead stadium on January 26, 2025 in Kansas City, Missouri.
Images Jamie Squire / Getty
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Images Jamie Squire / Getty
Deandre Hopkins # 8 of Kansas City chiefs arrived before a match against the Buffalo Bills at the Highmark stadium on November 17, 2024 in Orchard Park, New York.
David Eulitt / Getty images
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David Eulitt / Getty images
Deandre Hopkins # 8 of the Kansas City chiefs arrives before a match against the Broncos de Denver at the Geha Field at the Stadium Arrowhead on November 10, 2024 in Kansas City, Missouri.
David Eulitt / Getty images
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David Eulitt / Getty images
The wide receiver Deandre Hopkins # 8 of the Kansas City chiefs arrives at the stadium before an NFL football match against Las Vegas raiders, at the Allegiant Stadium on October 27, 2024 in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Brooke Sutton / Getty images
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Brooke Sutton / Getty images
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