It looks like Jets wide receiver Josh Doctson is planning on making the most out of his year away from football.
According to the New York Daily News’ Manish Mehta, Doctson, who became the third Jets player to opt-out of the 2020 season, is traveling to Africa on a humanitarian mission in an effort to help the needy. Mehta reported that COVID-19 concerns weighed heavily on Doctson’s decision to opt-out, but he also told people in the Jets’ organization that he “feels that his calling is to help the underprivileged at this time.”
Strict travel restrictions are in place across the world in order to limit the spread of coronavirus, but certain countries in Africa are still allowing visitors from the United States, including Rwanda, which Doctson has visited before.
Doctson took a trip to Rwanda with his girlfriend two winters ago. He initially planned on visiting Ghana, but changed course once he learned of Rwanda’s civil war in the 1990s and how its natives came together to overcome genocide.
“We went to the genocide museum and we saw a lot of things I wasn’t really aware of,” Doctson told the Washington Football Team’s website. “How the genocide started, what happened in the genocide and what’s going on now. [Rwanda] is a very, very safe place. Infrastructure is amazing, they rebuilt everything, people moving, energy’s high. We loved it. I really don’t know what other trip can top Rwanda right now. I really want to keep going back and back and try to figure out how to give opportunities to these people who are in need.”
Doctson signed with the Jets in February on a one-year, $825,000 deal, which will be rolled over to next season. He will receive a $150,000 advance of his 2021 salary, per terms of the NFL-NFLPA opt-out agreement. After playing only seven snaps with the Vikings last season due to injury, the former first-round pick was expected to compete for a spot on New York’s razor-thin wide receiver depth chart in training camp.