Peyton Powell transfers from Rutgers following vaccine mandate

Rutgers is making the COVID-19 vaccine mandatory for students. As a result, football player Peyton Powell is transferring.

Rutgers defensive back Peyton Powell is entering the transfer portal due to the school’s COVID-19 vaccine policy. Powell announced his decision on Twitter.

The University of Rutgers has made the COVID vaccine mandatory to attend school and play football, therefore I have no other choice but to enter my name into the transfer portal.

— Peyton Powell (@PPowell_) August 24, 2021

“The University of Rutgers has made the COVID vaccine mandatory to attend school and play football,” Powell wrote. “Therefore I have no other choice but to enter my name in the transfer portal.”

Rutgers is currently facing a lawsuit for its COVID-19 vaccine mandate per My Central Jersey. The school is standing firm with its decision:

“The university’s position on vaccines is consistent with the legal authority supporting this policy,” the school said in a statement.. “We are committed to creating a safe campus environment in fall 2021, and to support the health and safety for all members of the Rutgers community, the university updated its existing immunization requirements for students to include the COVID-19 vaccine.”

Powell has never seen any playing time at Rutgers since transferring in 2019. According to Chris Iseman of USA Today, prior to training camp, Greg Schiano said that Powell was not part of the roster. Although Powell’s decision is making headlines, this won’t be much of a loss for the Rutgers football team. In fact, they aren’t viewing it as any kind of loss.

The Scarlet Knights open up the season by hosting the Temple Owls on Thursday, Sept. 2. Rutgers finished 3-6 last year under Schiano. This is his second stint in Piscataway as head coach and he’s starting to flex those recruiting muscles that turned Rutgers into a winning program once upon a time.