Tyreek Hill wants to retire with Kansas City Chiefs

At a local camp in Joplin, Missouri, Tyreek Hill took a few minutes to praise his former team and announce that he wants to retire a Chief.

Tyreek Hill has found himself back in Kansas and Missouri the past few weeks, holding youth football camps in different cities. On Friday, Hill was in Joplin, Missouri, along with recently retired Chiefs receiver Gehrig Dieter, giving hundreds of kids the opportunity to learn from NFL professionals.

During the camp, Hill took the time to speak with local reporters, and per the Joplin Globe, Hill started out by talking about his love for the Kansas/Missouri region and how he never thought about cancelling his camps in the area, despite being traded to Miami.

"“The love here is amazing. That’s why I really be coming back (to the Missouri/Kansas region) – just to feel that love. Coming back here is like home for me. I got drafted here, I feel like I became a man here. So it feels great just to be here,” said Hill."

That’s an important statement from Hill, given that he’s been embroiled in a bit of a scandal the past few weeks, after he released a clip of his upcoming podcast. In the podcast, Hill and his agent seemed to accuse the Chiefs of “suppressing stats” before the trade.

Yet in Joplin, just a few hours south of Arrowhead, Hill made it clear that he still has much love for his former team.

"“I just feel like outside of football, those guys are always going to be my brothers no matter what,” Hill said, “From Travis, to Patrick, to Dieter, to everyone on that football team. All respect to the head coach, Coach Reid, for helping me get my game to where I want it to be.”"

And then as if to drive the point home that Chiefs Kingdom is his home, Hill added:

"“I’m going to say it again: I’m going to retire a Chief. Like I said, this is where it all started. This is where I became a man. These are the guys who gave me a chance, who believed in me … So thank you, Coach Reid. Thank you, John Dorsey. Thank you, Alex Smith, Patrick Mahomes, everybody for helping me along the way.”"

Despite all of the praise for his former team, Hill kept his camp and the kids who were attending at the forefront, mentioning that even though the commitments had been made well before the trade, he wanted to keep them. Hill said he didn’t want to be a man who went back on his word just because he’d been traded away from the area of those promises.

It was clear by Hill’s comments that he still deeply cares about Chiefs Kingdom. Despite a podcast that has cast a shadow on his time with the Chiefs given some questionable statements about his usage and more, Hill is also clearly wanting to stay connected for the long-term.