Rutgers' Peyton Powell Says He's Transferring After School Mandates COVID-19 Vaccine

Rutgers defensive back Peyton Powell announced that he is entering the NCAA transfer portal because the school is mandating COVID-19 vaccines for all students.

Rutgers, which is the state university of New Jersey, announced March 25 that all students would be required to receive the vaccine before attending school in the fall of 2021.

Powell spent his freshman season (2019) at Baylor before transferring to Rutgers. He played high school ball at Permian High School in Odessa, Texas.

Rutgers head coach Greg Schiano told reporters in early August that Powell was not part of the team. He did not provide a reason why.

"Right now he is not part of the team," Schiano said, per Chris Nalwasky of TheKnightReport. “We’ll see if he does become part of the team. But as we speak, he was not on the roster.”

Bobby Deren of Scarlet Nation asked Schiano about Powell's status after Monday's practice, and the coach said that "it's the same situation."

Schiano previously told Rutgers beat reporters (h/t James Kratch of NJ Advance Media) that the football team had a vaccination rate of over 90 percent.

“We’re in good shape. I’d say we’re in as good shape as probably anybody in the country,” Schiano before the second day of Big Ten Media Days on July 23. “I feel really good where we are. … It feels more back to normal.”

Rutgers is scheduled to begin the 2021 season Thursday, Sept. 2 at home versus Temple.