fbpx
Skip to main content

Former NFL WR shares his hilarious ‘flu game’ story

Cleveland Browns Andrew Hawkins
Aaron Doster-USA TODAY Sports

Michael Jordan finally shined a light on his iconic ‘flu’ game in The Last Dance, revealing that it was actually food poisoning from a pizza that led to his memorable performance. On Monday, former NFL player Andrew Hawkins shared his own hilarious story of how Jordan’s game inspired him to try and do the same.

After spending years playing in the Canadian Football League and a season on an NFL practice squad, Hawkins knew he had to prove himself once on an NFL roster. When the Cincinnati Bengals made the playoffs in 2012, Hawkins got sick the day before the game and was determined to play through it like Jordan. He quickly learned it wasn’t that easy.

After suffering a loss in his first playoff game during the 2011 season, Hawkins was determined to leave it all out on the field to help the Bengals win. Instead of going off with a monster performance and leading his team to a victory, Hawkins hauled in two catches and had a fumble.

The Bengals would go on to lose the game 19-13 to the Houston Texans and Hawkins would play in just one more NFL game over his final four seasons. He learned that, whether it’s the flu or food poisoning, it wasn’t remotely as easy as Jordan made it look.

Mentioned in this article:

More About: