One of North America’s most decorated players, Jaccob “yay” Whiteaker, revealed that he will take time off competitive Valorant. He claims it was due to health reasons.
Once considered the greatest Valorant player in the world, yay is only a shadow of his former self. He decided to take on a new challenge by relocating to Southeast Asia to play for BLEED Esports.
Sadly, in addition to lackluster individual performances, yay has been receiving a lot of backlash from his former teammates, adding fuel to the fire. After a disappointing finish at VCT Pacific Stage 1, where BLEED Esports finished dead last, Yay has temporarily stepped back from the team’s active roster.
According to an official post from the organization, the superstar is taking a break due to health reasons. The BLEED team is in full support of the 25-year-old’s decision and will play in the coming tournaments in his absence.
After concluding the first split, yay has decided to take a temporary break for health reasons before coming back to competing.
We fully support his decision to prioritize his wellness and we’re all excited for more yay once he’s back in the zone.
Till then, rest up, @yay!… pic.twitter.com/GbR9sJtKaT
— BLEED Esports (@ggBleed) May 13, 2024
At the start of the year, yay had already commented on his health not being in top shape. He claimed his vision was “becoming blurry,” and he could not react properly when he saw people on his screen. However, he does not know why and what caused it.
man you guys are brutal
not sure what happened that last series. ive never had my vision start becoming blurry during a game. there were people on my screen sometimes and I didnt even react. and the worst part is I have no idea what caused it
I know some of you are mad but…
— yay (@yay) February 20, 2024
While BLEED was finding minimal success at Stage 1, yay’s former teammates ganged up on him to tell stories about their past experiences playing with him. Former BLEED captain crazyguy mentioned he was disappointed in yay because he was not putting enough effort into the team.
Things continued to get worse, as former Disguised player Genghsta uploaded footage from a scrim in which yay was audibly frustrated at the team and said he would throw the game. Genghsta proceeded to expose Yay for trying to pay Disguised’s coach OCEAN $10,000 to bench him from the team.
Apart from the situation with crazyguy, yay has not replied to Genghsta’s accusations about him. However, a bunch of his ex-teammates came into his defense and said they never had any issues or toxicity while playing with him.
Not Going to really touch on how yay was on DSG simply bc I have no clue other than 2 clips that could be completely out of context
In our few months together on cloud9 he was a great teammate and we never had any toxicity issues with yay so i’m going to go out on a limb and say… https://t.co/ehHA3jUpsw
— Anthony (@Vanityxz) April 27, 2024
It is true that yay’s physical condition is not looking too great, especially with problems surrounding his eyesight. However, it is fully understandable if yay simply wants to take some time off, considering how many negative comments are being hurled at him for underperforming.
We hope that yay enjoys his much-needed break. He has been through some of the toughest times in the past few months of his career. Hopefully, he will return in top shape and show what he’s capable of.
In the meantime, it is rumored that crazyguy could make a return to the primary BLEED roster. He was responsible for captaining the team through Ascension, which landed the organization a spot in franchising. Deryeon will likely take up the Duelist role that yay has left behind.
Header: BLEED Esports
