Seattle Seahawks safety Quandre Diggs: American 'cockiness' fueling coronavirus outbreak

Seattle Seahawks safety Quandre Diggs believes the “cockiness” of Americans has fueled the continued spread of the novel coronavirus.

“As a country, as a whole, we’re this cocky country that feels like we’re invincible, but we have the most (COVID-19) cases in the world,” Diggs told Sports Illustrated in a story published Saturday. “At some point, we need to take that cockiness down and we need to get humbled a bit to know, ‘Hey, continue to wear your mask.’”

The United States in recent weeks has seen a surge in COVID-19 cases, halting and rolling back reopening plans in several states. More than 2,800,000 people have been infected with the virus nationwide, including nearly 130,000 deaths, as of Monday, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The U.S. not only leads the world in cases and deaths from COVID-19, but has also reported recent spikes of the virus as numbers dwindle in other countries.

Diggs told Sports Illustrated that he couldn’t understand the refusal of some people to wear a mask in public on the basis of freedom.

“It’s cockiness,” Diggs said. “It’s the absolute cockiness of America, of Americans, to think I don’t need a mask. I don’t understand it. Nobody taking away your freedom. You’re still able to walk the streets, you’re still able to go to the store. Just put a freakin’ mask on. It’s not that serious.

“If you were sick in the first place, wouldn’t you want to keep a mask on so you don’t get anybody else sick? If you have the flu or if you have a fever or something else, you would wear a mask. You wouldn’t be out in public. It’s about protecting others.

“We’re so cocky, we’re so worried about ourselves and not worried about others. And that’s kind of what got us in this predicament we’re in now – with (COVID-19), with social justice, with police brutality. We have one race worried about themselves instead of everybody caring about each other. We do our own thing.”

Diggs, who told reporters in May that he was concerned his native Texas was reopening too fast, has been critical on social media of the state governor’s response to the coronavirus pandemic. Texas, along with Florida, has reported their biggest daily rise in new confirmed cases over the past few days.

Gov. Greg Abbott of Texas last week issued a face mask mandate in public settings in most counties in Texas, after initially resisting stricter safety protocols for weeks.

“I think it’s terrible," Diggs said of the Texas response to COVID-19. “I’ve said it from the jump. I don’t think we should’ve opened up that fast. If you’ve been on my twitter, I’ve been criticizing the governor and letting him know. I’ve met the governor a few times because he’s at (University of) Texas football games. I met him. He probably don’t remember me, but I definitely remember him. It doesn’t matter if I know you or not. If I feel you’re doing something wrong, I’m going to let you know about it.”

Diggs, 27, is entering his first full season with the Seahawks, after being traded from Detroit last October.

NFL training camps are scheduled to start on time in late July, though the feasibility of that goal has been thrust into question with spikes of COVID-19 cases across the country. The league has also yet to finalize health and safety protocol for the season.    

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Ben Arthur covers sports for SeattlePI. He can be reached by email at benjaminarthur@seattlepi.com. Follow him on twitter at @benyarthur.