The Kansas City Chiefs called a press conference late on Thursday night to announce that they have suspended Tyreek Hill from taking part in all team activities.
Brett Veach wasn’t prepared to make a statement. Unfortunately the Kansas City Chiefs general manager says he was learning in real-time, just like the rest of Chiefs Kingdom, the disturbing nature of Tyreek Hill’s exchange with his fiancee Crystal Espinal on a recording leaked by KCTV last evening.
On the recording, Hill makes unsettling statements about the investigation into child abuse and child neglect at his home by the Johnson County District Attorney. Here are a few examples from the 11 minutes of audio.
In an audio obtain from @KCTV5, Crystal Espinal asks Tyreek Hill, "Why does he say, 'Daddy did it.'"
— Nate Taylor (@ByNateTaylor) April 25, 2019
A few minutes later in the conversation, Crystal Espinal says that Tyreek Hill punches his son in the arm & uses a belt a discipline.
The sentence in the audio from @KCTV5 that will likely doom Tyreek Hill's future with the Chiefs & the NFL is this one that he said to Crystal Espinal:
— Nate Taylor (@ByNateTaylor) April 25, 2019
"You need to be terrified of me, too, bitch."
Given the nature of the statements and public sentiment following the KCTV airing of the audio, the Chiefs called a press conference and announced that Hill would no longer be allowed to practice or participate in any team activities “for the foreseeable future.” Here’s Veach’s full statement to reporters:
“Well, we did not have a first round pick tonight and I did not anticipate having a press conference. However, in light of the events that have transpired tonight, I did think it was appropriate to address the media on behalf of the organization.
“Earlier this evening, we were made aware of the audio between Tyreek and Crystal . We were given this information in real time, just like the general public. We were deeply disturbed by what we heard and we were deeply concerned. Obviously we have great concern for Crystal. We are greatly concerned for Tyreek. But our main focus, our main concern, is for the young child.
“As soon as the draft concluded after the last pick, I had the chance to call Drew Rosenhaus, and we decided, at this time and for the foreseeable future, Tyreek Hill will not take part in any team activities. We are going to gather more information and evaluate this information and we will make the right decision regarding Tyreek Hill.”
It’s uncertain if Hill will ever play for the Chiefs or even in the National Football League ever again, but the scales are certainly tipped against it. Public sentiment at this point is calling for the release of Hill, and it will be interesting to see how the Chiefs assuage the current calls for action versus the time that Veach referenced taking for the sake of gathering information.
Hill is one of the most dynamic offensive weapons in football and was reportedly in the midst of negotiating a lucrative extension with K.C. before all of this news started to leak.