Cowboys make late add to injury report; Malik Hooker says he’ll ‘absolutely’ go

From @ToddBrock24f7: Hooker was added to the report with an unspecified illness but is expected to play. The safety himself confirmed it with a famous GIF.

Cowboys safety Malik Hooker was a very late add to the team’s Week 1 injury report, showing up Saturday afternoon with an unspecified illness designation that left him classified as questionable to play.

On the surface, that news would be quite concerning, considering that fellow safety Donovan Wilson is already listed as doubtful for the season opener against the Giants.

Nevertheless, the team called the move “procedural,” stating that Hooker, the seventh-year veteran, was still expected to go versus the divisional rivals from New York.

Hooker himself made a more ironclad promise to Cowboys fans via social media.

The GIF, of course, comes from Game 5 of the 1997 NBA Finals, when Bulls superstar Michael Jordan played through a nasty bout of… something… to score 38 points in 44 minutes, including the tie-breaking three-pointer in the waning seconds. His heroic performance in the win has gone down in history as “The Flu Game,” although it’s been revealed recently that it was more likely a case of food poisoning.

Either way, it’s become the go-to inspiration for every athlete who’s feeling under the weather on gameday yet hopes to soldier on and help deliver a win anyway.

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Hooker left no doubt about the meaning of his post shortly thereafter.

“Absolutely” was his one-word response to Dallas Morning News reporter Michael Gehlken’s post in which Gehlken offered, “Have a feeling we’ll see Cowboys S Malik Hooker on Sunday night…”

In a bit of fortuitous scheduling, the Cowboys’ primetime Sunday night kickoff even gives MH several extra hours to rest up and channel his inner MJ.

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