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Former Bengal WR’s Unfortunate Fate Proves How Difficult it is to be Michael Jordan 

Published 03/03/2022, 3:30 PM EST

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Michael Jordan and the Flu Game are Basketball history. It is an integral part of MJ folklore. When fathers tell their sons about the 6-time Finals MVP, they will rarely fail to mention this story. It is a legacy.

And why shouldn’t it be? Jordan’s visibly sick in the game. He is in pain. And yet His Airness goes out and puts up 38 points in a winning effort. Even icing the bucket to tie the game. The game has been extensively covered by sports talk shows, in pop culture references, and obviously in the Netflix series, ‘The Last Dance’.

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Given the circumstances, it is seen as one of the best finals performances as per many, many people. Yes, there are some who say “it wasn’t flu, it was food poisoning.” But the point is, he wasn’t a 100% or even close to it.

Michael Jordan Stuns the Utah Jazz

And the Utah team was stunned to a 3-2 loss in the series, led by a ‘flu-riddled’ Michael Jordan. They never even saw the seventh game. As MJ is famous for having never gone seven matches in a finals-winning series.

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Insane. And impossible. As Former Bengals WR Andrew Hawkins would find out. The ex-NFL player was faced with a similar situation, playing in his second year in the league.

Michael Jordan Once Gave NFL Legend Deion Sanders Life-Changing Advice: “If Playing Is Still in Your Heart, Go Do It”

The Year was 2013. It was a playoff game against the Houston Texans. Andrew Hawkins was on the bench but determined to go big in his second playoff outing. The wild-card game was looking like a match-up of equals. But it wasn’t meant to be.

Not Like Mike

The night before, just like in MJ’s case, Hawkins got sick. He was running a temperature of 102 and even changed rooms so he wouldn’t get anyone else sick. Although, instead of feeling sad or demotivated, he tried to spin it around.

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The Wide Receiver felt this was it; this was his time to shine. Hawkins decided to go MJ- Flu-game all over the Houston Texans. He would get up the next day and have the game of his life. Like Mike!

But alas, he finished the day with two catches for 15 yards. With a fumble. They lost 19-13 to the Texans. It did not work out.

Well, this wasn’t the 90s and just like all the rest of us, Andrew Hawkins couldn’t be Michael Jordan. No biggie. And this series of events once again proves that there’s only one and really can be only one, Michael Jordan.

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Written by:

Utsav Khanna

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Utsav Khanna is an NFL Author at EssentiallySports. He did his PGDM from the Indian Institute of Mass Communication and went on to work in Public Relations. A deep interest and love for the sport of NFL drew him towards working in Sports Journalism.
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Edited by:

Utsav Khanna