On Tuesday, Eagles wide receiver Marquise Goodwin becomes one of several NFL players to announce that he has opted out of this season because of concerns surrounding COVID-19.

On Wednesday, he received a ton of messages from fans unhappy about his decision.

The New York Times published that as of Wednesday, there were over 4.4 million confirmed cases of coronavirus in the U.S. with more than 150,000 deaths.

Goodwin says his family is the utmost priority for him right now as he and his wife had a baby girl in February, after many complications, but does reassure that it is only for this season.

He goes into detail in this Instagram post about experiencing multiple miscarriages with his wife, Morgan, while putting football first.
 

 

ᴡʜʏ ɪ’ᴍ ᴏᴘᴛɪɴɢ ᴏᴜᴛ ғʀᴏᴍ ᴛʜᴇ 2020 ɴғʟ sᴇᴀsᴏɴ By Marquise Goodwin - husband, father, son, brother, football player @nfl . Before I get into the specifics, hear me out. It is truly a blessing and privilege to be able to play football, a game that I love so much and have been blessed to play since the age of 9. The NFL Organization provides my family and I with many opportunities that wouldn’t have presented itself in other industries. Traveling to several States multiple times a year and internationally to play on foreign soil has allowed me to gain an appreciation for different cultures and a wider world view perspective. The NFL Football organization has allowed me to create a platform I always dreamed of and it allows me to reach numerous people on different stages of life. Three years ago, I made a decision that affected my whole life. I chose to leave my wife at the hospital after prematurely birthing our first baby boy (due to incompetent cervix) which resulted in a fatality, to play in a football game. I felt like I had to prove to my coaches and new team that I was dedicated to winning and I wouldn’t let anything keep me from the goal, not even my family. The following year in the same month, same week, our lives took another traumatic turn. Two weeks after learning her abdominal cerclage was failing, my wife called me shortly after we landed and arrived to our team hotel in Tampa, Florida to inform me she was having painful contractions, and my grandma (who flew up to help take care of Morgan while I would go to work and away games) had to rush her to the emergency room. Here we are again in the same predicament as a year ago, except I was almost 3,000 miles away this time. Anxiety weighed heavily on me because I once again had to decide – will I choose to play a game again like everyone may expect me to, or do I go home and tend to my ailing wife? After much prayer and discussion, I told our team GM that I absolutely had to fly back and take care of my wife, in attempt to honor my wedding vows that I made to both her, myself, and God. He and the 49ers organization... [ᴛᴏ ʟᴇᴀʀɴ ᴍᴏʀᴇ ᴄʟɪᴄᴋ ᴛʜᴇ ʟɪɴᴋ ɪɴ ᴍʏ ʙɪᴏ]

A post shared by MG (@marquisegoodwin) on

Since then he has been flooded with positive fans who understand and support his decision to take care of his family.

Opting out means he will either qualify for a $350,000 stipend or a $150,000 cash advance (voluntary).