No money can make up for the loss of a child, but NFL star DeAndre Hopkins says he hopes the donation of his playoff game check to the family of Jazmine Barnes will show how much the community supports them.
The star Houston Texans receiver told CNN’s Brooke Baldwin on Friday that he is not trying to get credit or “stars” for the gesture.
“Just trying to be a light, trying to help out the best way I can,” he said.
Jazmine, 7, was killed last Sunday in a drive-by shooting near Houston.
“That could have been anyone in my family,” Hopkins said, reiterating one of tweets in which he said that he thought of his own 5-year-old daughter when he saw a picture of Jazmine.
Hopkins told CNN he would pledge his game check to help the family with funeral costs, hospital bills for Jazmine’s mother or other family needs.
According to the NFL, Hopkins is set to make $29,000 for Saturday’s AFC Wild Card game against the Indianapolis Colts in Houston.
Hopkins has said he supports social activist Shaun King, Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez and Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner in bringing the shooter to justice.
King and attorney S. Lee Merritt are offering a $100,000 reward for information that gives police a break in the case. The gunman has been described as a bearded white man, possibly in his 40s, driving a red or maroon pickup. The victims in the shooting are black.
Hopkins told Baldwin it was more than a casual drive by, that it was done by someone “who had hate in their heart.”
More than 2,200 donors have contributed to a GoFundMe account for Jazmine’s funeral expenses and family, as the girl’s mother recovers from a gunshot wound and some of her three sisters recover from injuries caused by glass that shattered in the attack.
“They are not alone,” he said of Jazmine’s family. “The city supports them, a lot of people in America supports them and a lot of people are praying for them.”
Now in his sixth season, Hopkins, 26, was the 27th overall pick in the 2013 NFL draft. This season he had a career best 1,572 receiving yards, the second highest total in the NFL. He also scored 11 touchdowns.
