On Wednesday, ESPN launched its newest storytelling franchise, ESPN Cover Story, featuring the heartbreaking, courageous and inspiring story of DeAndre Hopkins and his mother, Sabrina Greenlee.
In the debut of Cover Story, Hopkins and Greenlee recount the traumatic events of an acid attack that disfigured her face, left her blind and how football helped them all through the adversity.
"Football for him was an escape," Hopkins' sister Kesha Smith said. "And he was completely unstoppable."
The story itself isn't a new one for those that have followed the two-time First-Team All-Pro's career, but ESPN Cover Story brings the details to life for viewers and readers with old photographs, videos and exclusive interviews with Hopkins and his family.
"It's a story that's actually been – I want to say - in progress for maybe two years," ESPN Vice President, Editorial Director and Executive Producer, Alison Overholt said via ESPNFrontRow.com. "There's a group of producers at E:60 who started bubbling a story and there's Mina Kimes, developing, recording, working with DeAndre Hopkins. There's a writing component. There's a linear television feature component."
ESPN Cover Story is a multimedia platform also available on social media and YouTube with a new story released each month. The ESPN Cover Story featuring Hopkins, titled "The Unbreakable Bond," included a written article by ESPN journalist Mina Kimes as well as a standalone 30-minute television version that will air on ESPN2. The popular E:60 will include a version of the feature during its primetime debut on Tuesday, Oct. 22.
