The Chiefs and football: A passion play

Tyreek Hill

Tyreek Hill is a self-admitted woman beater. He’s pleaded guilty to domestic abuse of his girlfriend. He hit her in the stomach, struck her in the face and strangled her while she was pregnant with his child. Hill has readily admitted, 1) what he’s done and 2) that he’s gone to rehabilitation and counseling. Plus, the incident appears to be isolated.

So, John Dorsey wants us to “trust” him and accept that his team of employees has “vetted” Hill to the degree that we Chiefs fans should just accept Hill in with open arms?

There aren’t many crimes that inflame the passions of the people of our nation like domestic violence. So, I’m certain Tyreek Hill will be living with this the rest of his life. Tyreek Hill needs to answer the question, “How is he going to make this right?” and we all know that merely saying you’re sorry and going to counseling for a month is not the answer anyone will be satisfied with.

Many students I instruct don’t understand that “being sorry” actually means being emotionally in a state of permanent regret. Once that kind of true grief over your own behavior comes into focus, you do what ever you can to not only make sure everyone in your own life knows how sorry you are, but you then work towards making sure that, that kind of thing never happens to anyone else. That ‘s why you see so many violators who have truly changed turn into volunteers or helping-profession workers.

When Tyreek chose to be in the public light he also chose to put himself in the position of leadership. Any player who makes it to the NFL is immediately looked up to, by fans young and old. The NFL shines a bright light on anyone who pulls on the pads, so that is a given.

The Chiefs have chosen a path for the organization that is now fraught with difficult questions. Questions that will not only seem like undue punishment to Tyreek Hill but become an unfair target topic of media discussions which Chiefs fans around the world will grow weary of before the new season ever begins. Every time a national media announcer begins to discuss Tyreek Hill and the violence he perpetrated on his girlfriend, instead of talking about… Jamaal Charles recovering from a second ACL or Justin Houston’s shortening his healing time and returning to action… K.C. fans will be forced to re-live John Dorsey’s decision to bring Hill into the Chiefs locker room and watch as Hill’s presence becomes a glorification of his abuse.

Until Tyreek Hill leaves the Chiefs we’ll hear fans asking “When are the Chiefs going to stop rewarding abusers with prestigious positions?”

You don’t have to feel like you’re “casting stones” to know that the Chief have brought this on themselves.

Somehow, this regime has neglected to see the big picture. Can’t they see that by drafting Tyreek Hill they are in part sending out a message that says, “It’s okay to hit women?” How many young kids do they think are going to be able to sort out all the difficult adult issues of having a woman beater in a high profile position on their team? Some kids might even think that just goes with the territory.

Next: What about Demarcus Robinson?