DeAndre Hopkins Is the NFL’s Most Underrated Receiver—and Dresser

The star wideout talks about his dream of starting a clothing line, almost sitting out a game in defiance of the team’s former owner, and being the best-dressed player in sports.
DeAndre Hopkins wearing a suit.
PHOTOGRAPHS BY KIM REENBERG
Sweater, coat, and pants, (prices upon request), by Louis Vuitton / His own watch, by Rolex

A truly transcendent arena tunnel outfit starts as a dream. One that, as dreams so often do, leads to Paris. Last summer DeAndre Hopkins, the Houston Texans wide receiver with the gravitational field of an exploding star, who sucks every catchable ball into his orbit, went to the Maison Margiela Paris boutique in the hope of finding something special with only a fuzzy idea of what that might actually look like. Hopkins was waiting patiently as the sales clerk rooted around the back room, looking for one very specific item. He passed the time by chatting with Fear of God designer Jerry Lorenzo, who was there by chance. Then the clerk brought out a $6,000 vest constructed entirely out of belts, one of only three in the world. Hopkins remembers the feeling: “I got to have it.” Four months later, a photographer waiting in the tunnel in Houston before a Cowboys-Texans game snaps a picture of him wearing the vest. The dream becomes a fit.

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Hopkins knows better than anyone the necessity of taking advantage of every opportunity, because no one has had to do more with less than he has. During his first four years in the league, Hopkins plowed through franchise receiving records while playing with an assembly line of mediocre quarterbacks who came and went faster than Trump cabinet members. NFL wide receivers often get credit for the numbers they pile up: receiving yards, touchdowns, catches. But Hopkins’s most impressive achievements are the goose eggs on his résumé. Like last season, when he tied a team record for catches but only by dropping exactly zero of passes.

Growing up in South Carolina, Hopkins had to learn how to capitalize on whatever was thrown his way. Money was tight, and his mom gave him a fixed amount to spend on birthdays and Christmas presents. While his siblings stacked up toys, Hopkins would go to Macy’s and inspect fabrics for durability. Then, armed with some new pants, a Calvin Klein button-up, or a rainbow Ralph Lauren scarf, he’d strut through his neighborhood. “I didn't want to come in the house,” he says. “I wanted to be seen.” He earned the nickname Ralph because he wore so much Polo.

These days Hopkins has the opportunity to broadcast his new clothes to a much wider audience, thanks to cameramen who stake out arena tunnels pregame. And, as on the field, he knows he can’t afford a drop. “[NFL players] don't get a lot of face time, so we've got to create those little moments for ourselves and make them last,” he explains. That’s where the $6,000 vest comes in.

But face time and branding opportunities are often a lower order of concern when playing in the NFL. In the last half-decade, football spectatorship has entered morally ambiguous territory. But playing in the NFL? “Hell yeah, it's weird,” he says.

Coat, $2,190, shirt (price upon request), and pants, $880, by Craig Green / Shoes, $10, by Pearl River Mart / Socks, $30, by Pantherella

That came to a head when it leaked that late Texans owner Bob McNair compared players kneeling during the national anthem to “inmates running the prison.” The day those comments leaked in late October 2017, the week of a game against the Seattle Seahawks, Hopkins left practice—and almost sat out the game entirely. “It feels like I'm a slave again. Listen to the master, go to work.” He says it was a clarifying moment for him and his teammates. “We realize now what goes on above us,” he says. “You can't sugarcoat that.”

Hopkins, who is perennially underrated by hot-take jockeys distracted by newer, shinier objects, has an off-the-charts amount of mojo. He’s already anointed himself the best wide receiver in the league. And now, with a GQ reporter sitting right in front of him, he sees another opportunity he can’t miss. So he awards himself another banner: “I'm the best-dressed player,” he says, “shit, I think in all of sports.” We spoke to Hopkins about style, his desire to start his own brand, and the strangeness of playing in today’s NFL.


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GQ: How was the photo shoot?
DeAndre Hopkins: I love it, dog. I love it. It's different than football. A different expression of yourself.

You don’t have a stylist, right?
No. I don't believe in stylists. I have asked people advice on what they would do. I would come up with the idea and ask them, “Can you get someone to make it?”

You go directly to a brand, you mean?
I have gone to some brands directly. I’ve done stuff with Louis Vuitton. They reached out to me actually. They sent me to the Virgil Abloh show in Paris. Gave me a ticket and shit. Shit was dope. [Virgil] urged me to go.

What do you want to do design-wise?
I want to do…shit, everything really. I like women's clothes. I don't just like men's. I want to design women's clothes just as much as men's clothes.

What kind of women's clothes do you want to design? Are we going to see DeAndre Hopkins couture gowns?
No, nothing crazy. Something more scalable, something that women can wear every day. But for all different sizes. I don’t believe stuff should be made for the perfect model. I think that's where we go wrong right now in this day and age: We make stuff that's not realistic. I always told myself, if I ever did a fashion show, I'm not going to have models. I'm going to have regular-sized women.What's the point in having some shit people don't even want to wear because they see this skinny person in it all the time?

Jacket, $3,500, sweater, $980, shirt, $780, pants, $1,200, and tie, $360, by Gucci

When did you start getting into style as a kid?
I think it started from me knowing that my father was a stylish guy, and then my mom being a stylish woman. My mom used to make sure we stayed dressed nice going to church. And when you’re young, and people compliment you, you want to keep that feeling. You want to keep that vibe, that energy. Because it makes you feel good. And then clothes make you feel good too.

I read that you used style as a way to protect yourself or to stay out of trouble in a way.
I won't say it kept me out of trouble. I used to get in trouble, or not get in trouble, but I used to be in the middle of shit I probably shouldn't have. But [fashion] just took me out of an element that I was in and around. Shit made me feel good about being low-class. I felt I could wear this shit that all the rich people wear and I could wear it better than them.

You have used style to send certain messages too. Like when you wore the Colin Kaepernick jersey before a game.
I was the first one to wear that jersey too, by the way.

Did you call Nike?
No, I just ordered them. I bought one for my whole family, I bought like ten of them.

Did you get any heat for wearing that?
Of course. You get heat for being pictured, man. That's crazy. I like it when people show their true colors, though. Like, how do you get mad at somebody for wearing something that's peaceful?

Were you upset that the Texans didn't give Kaep a look after Deshaun Watson got injured [in 2017] and the Texans needed a quarterback?
Yeah, I was upset. Everybody needed to give Kaep a look. He can help a team win. I've seen a lot of quarterbacks that's not as good as Kaep, but teams don't want the heat behind them.

What was your reaction to Bob McNair’s comments about the inmates running the prison?
I'll take my ass home. I went home. I ain't going to practice today. Hell no. I was about to not play in the game.

You were about to sit out the game?
Hell yeah, I was about to sit out the game. But I definitely wasn’t going to practice. A couple of my teammates about to follow me, but they called them back up to the stadium. They tried calling me, but I wasn't going back. Hell no.

It's hard for people to understand what that means, when your family was slaves. You can't relate to something like that if your great-uncle's not telling you stories about their parents or their grandparents and what they went through. Not even too long ago, people couldn't even drink out of the same water faucet. Not even 100 years ago.

Blazer, $2,320, sweater, $620, and pants, $1,020, by Rick Owens / Shoes, $920, by Sacai / Socks, $18 (for three pairs), by Gold Toe / Watch, $11,500, by Hublot

Barely 50 years ago!
Yeah, people don't understand. I'm from South Carolina. I'm from a real cultured state, where there's still racism daily. Still, places are segregated. I really didn't want to play in that game, dog. I was like, "Shit, this is bigger than a game, man." I’ve got to stand for something [for my children]. If their daddy don't stand up, then what the hell am I going to tell them?

It feels like I'm a slave again. Getting ran over. Listen to the master, go to work. But I took into consideration that he was older—RIP, his soul. He was a good man, but some people they don't really… When you grow up certain places, you talk a certain way.

That's generous of you, I think.
I'm a peaceful person. I try to take into consideration that he's done a lot of good for black people, so shit, you can't take nothing away from that, but...

What ultimately swayed you to not sit the game out?
My teammates, man. I play for them. I don't play for nobody else but my teammates and my family. That's it.

And then when we kneeled in Seattle, you know what they did? They didn't even boo, bro. I was like, "Damn, I love Seattle. They understand what we go through.”

Do you think the NFL is largely more conservative still, though?
Who performed at the Super Bowl last year?

Maroon 5. But they wanted Rihanna.
All right, so…that should go to show little events have an impact. It's a domino effect. That's the reason Maroon 5 performed, because of the domino effect, because ain't nobody else want to support the NFL.

Suit, $3,645, by Dolce & Gabbana / Turtleneck, $1,365, by Loro Piana / Loafers, $975, by Bally / Sunglasses, $1,075, by Jacques Marie Mage / His own watch by Rolex / Rings, (on right hand, from left), $400, and $175, by Love Adorned Vintage / Ring, (on left hand), his own

Is it weird to be inside the league?
Hell yeah, it's weird. Especially when you stand for something. I got people all the time telling me, "I don't even watch the games no more." I be like, "Shit, I got a family to feed, so…" I don't care if you watch it; I'm going to work. I play for my teammates, I don't play for nobody else.

It just makes us stronger, it just makes us come together more, be closer as players. We realize more so than ever who we're playing for. You're playing for your family. And the last name on your back. That's it.

Not put too much stock into what goes on above you?
No, because we realize now what goes on above us. You can't sugarcoat that. Ain't no way around it. You can't sugarcoat why Kaep is not playing in the NFL. This dude played in the Super Bowl. I only had one Pro Bowl quarterback my whole career…that was Deshaun Watson and that was last year. So, shit.

It must be a huge relief to have him on the team.
You don't understand what I've been through. Nobody understands, and I keep it to myself. I don't bash people in the media, like other people. Before Deshaun, I used to be frustrated…all the time, just saying, "How am I in this position?"

You got all the receivers going to the Super Bowl who are not even close to as good as me, but they got a good-ass quarterback. And here I am, putting up these crazy numbers—but all these quarterbacks, I never even worked out the whole off-season with a quarterback. Just because it's in and out. Cut. One year. Cut. So when we got Deshaun, that's one of the happiest moments I have playing football. That's sad.

What's the ceiling, you think, on the Texans this year?
I think the Super Bowl for us, that's the ceiling now. We got the pieces in the puzzles. We got one of the best defenses, with J.J. Watt. One of the best quarterbacks, Deshaun. Got a good running back, Lamar Miller. We got everything now. Super Bowl—I think that's what everybody should say, though. Only way to play football.

A version of this story originally appeared in the September 2019 issue with the title "A Word About NFL Star DeAndre Hopkins."


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NFL Pro Bowler DeAndre Hopkins

PRODUCTION CREDITS:
Photograph by Kim Reenberg
Styled by Jon Tietz
Grooming by Barry White for barrywhitemensgrooming.com