UPDATED 3/18, 12:00 p.m. ET: DeAndre Hopkins took to Twitter Wednesday, and said that the story is being "blown way out of proportion."
Hopkins added that he has the "utmost respect" for O'Brien.
See the original story below.
The Texans received virtually nothing in return for one of the best wide receivers in football, when they traded DeAndre Hopkins to the Arizona Cardinals over the weekend. According to Michael Irvin, the decision came down to a rift between Hopkins and Texans coach/general manager Bill O'Brien.
During an appearance on Wednesday's episode of ESPN's Get Up, Irvin claimed that O'Brien mentioned Patriots tight end, Aaron Hernandez, in a meeting with Hopkins.
Irvin claims to have been made aware of the exchange from Hopkins himself. According to Irvin, Hopkins and O'Brien were at odds because the coach felt Hopkins had too much influence in the locker room. The two scheduled a meeting to hash out their differences, but things quickly went left.
"[O'Brien] told DeAndre Hopkins, 'Hey, uh, the last time I had to have a meeting like this it was with Aaron Hernandez,'" Irvin said. "[Hopkins] said, 'Micheal, that blew my mind that he would even bring that up. I've never been in any trouble. I don't know why he would equate me with Aaron Hernandez."
Starting the meeting by comparing Hopkins' locker room behavior to Hernandez reportedly caused the conversation to "deteriorate." O'Brien also reportedly touched on the nature of Hopkins' family.
"DeAndre Hopkins has a few kids by different women," Irvin explained. "[O'Brien] told DeAndre that he doesn't like his baby mamas around sometimes. And from there, their relationship went bad. And thus, we got a trade for DeAndre Hopkins from Houston for basically—like I said earlier—a ham sandwich."
Prior to becoming the Texans head coach, O'Brien spent several years in New England as an assistant coach, giving him a front-row seat on how the organization handled Hernandez and his issues.
