Michael Vick spoke to TMZ Sports recently and said he was happy to be a resource to Kareem Hunt if the running back wants to talk to someone.
Very few people likely know what Kareem Hunt is thinking and feeling these days. An incredibly gifted athlete just beginning his NFL career in the most promising ways on the NFL’s most explosive offense in years, Hunt has experienced a tremendous fall from the top—and rightfully so in the eyes of most observers—as a now unemployed back who went unclaimed on waivers and doesn’t even know if or when he’ll be allowed to play professional football again.
Hunt lost his job with the Kansas City Chiefs last weekend when video surfaced of him from an assault last February. At the time, the police had investigated and failed to arrest anyone, and Hunt himself admitted he’d lied to the team about his involvement. Even after multiple chances to come clean over time, Hunt stuck with his story and the Chiefs were left without any real option but to release him when TMZ Sports obtained security camera footage and released it.
Instead of looking forward to a major payday in a couple years as he was undoubtedly on his way to his second Pro Bowl in two seasons, Hunt is now hoping that the NFL will go lenient on him and at least allow him back at some point in 2019. Even then, a team has to be willing to take the public relations hit and bring him in.
Few athletes know this perspective as well as Michael Vick, a man villified and punished for his role in dogfighting circles. Vick spent significant time in prison and out of the spotlight only to find Andy Reid as his head coach when he returned a changed man. It was good for all parties involved to showcase a truly changed man, and Vick knows the work it will take for Hunt to not only alter perceptions of him but to change his character.
Vick spoke to TMZ Sports recently and publicly told Hunt he was available as a resource.
"“He can always reach out to me, I’m going to give him positive advice… You gotta get help. That’s what I did. I got help. People helped me in my situation. He gotta get help, and that’s what’s most important.”"
For now, we can only hope that Hunt is at home surrounded by those who know him best and who can help him through a time in which he will need to rely on community he can trust. Vick has certainly been down these roads and is well loved by Hunt’s former head coach, so maybe Reid could set up that pairing. It certainly couldn’t hurt.
Hunt was only the sixth rookie in NFL history to ever be crowned the league’s rushing leader in 2017. He was following it up with a similar season on pace for another 1,700-plus yards from scrimmage and 20 touchdowns overall.