DeAndre Hopkins‘ story is more than just touchdowns; it’s a tribute to his incredible bond with his mom, Sabrina Greenlee. This South Carolina native was a star athlete early on, dominating in football, basketball, and track at D.W. Daniel High, racking up 57 receptions for over 1,200 yards and 18 touchdowns. He continued to shine at Clemson from 2010-2012, amassing over 3,000 receiving yards. In 2013, he was drafted 27th overall by the Houston Texans and has since played for the Cardinals, Titans, and now the Chiefs, reaching his first Super Bowl in February 2025.

But what really drives him is the strength he gets from his mother. She survived a terrible acid attack years ago, and Hopkins’ success has been a testament to their shared strength. Now, as he prepares for his Super Bowl debut on Sunday with the Kansas City Chief,s every touchdown is a tribute to her resilience

What happened to DeAndre Hopkins’ mother?

On July 20, 2002, Sabrina Greenlee’s life took a horrific turn when she was attacked with a mix of Red Devil Lye and Clorox by the girlfriend of a man she had been seeing. After the brutal assault, she was left abandoned at a gas station and airlifted to a burn center in Georgia, where she was placed in a medically induced coma for nearly a month. When she woke up, she faced the harsh reality of being completely blind and had to adjust to a new life. Doctors performed skin grafts using tissue from her legs and underarms to reconstruct her face. The recovery journey was incredibly challenging; Sabrina battled a morphine addiction and had to navigate life as a single parent to her four children.

Reflecting on her return home in an interview with Fox 10 Pheonix, she said, “Coming home was one of the toughest things I had to do because I had to come home to four children that, prior to that, totally depended on me solely for everything.” With help from churches and family, she managed to rebuild her life, but it wasn’t easy—“Mom was not mom anymore,” she noted. But here’s where the story takes a turn from tragic to truly inspiring.

How she overcame trauma and found strength

Blinded and battling both physical and emotional scars, she initially struggled with self-consciousness and avoided attending DeAndre’s games. However, with her son’s unwavering encouragement, she eventually found the strength to support him in person. What’s truly inspiring is that Sabrina chose the difficult path of forgiveness, even praying for her attacker, Savannah Carlita Grant, who was sentenced to 20 years in prison. As Sabrina said in her book ‘Grant Me Vision’: “I would not be where I’m at today if I had not chosen to forgive.”

This incredible journey led Sabrina to become a powerful advocate against domestic violence, sharing her story to help others through her non-profit organization, S.M.O.O.O.T.H. Inc. DeAndre, in turn, honors his mother’s resilience in a heartwarming tradition: gifting her the football after every touchdown. As Greenlee beautifully stated on a 2019 episode of ESPN Cover Story, “That ball symbolizes so much more than people ever could understand. It’s like a symbol of a bong that can’t be broken.”

He’s also used his platform to raise awareness, most notably in 2016 when he sported pink Adidas cleats with the National Domestic Violence Hotline number and donated money to the Aid to Victims of Domestic Abuse of Texas (AVDA). This mother-son duo is seriously changing the game!