Former Kansas City Chief's wide receiver Tyreek Hill has once again found himself in the headlines - and not for good reasons. Hill is once again under investigation, this time for alleged assault and battery.
Truthfully, I've been a Hill apologist for a long time. While pleading guilty to assaulting his girlfriend in college was bad, I'm a firm believer in second chances (and many more than that, to be honest). Andy Reid did too, which was why the Chiefs drafted Hill despite his problematic past.
As Hill developed into an All-Pro wide receiver with Kansas City, he was again bogged down with allegations stemming from a leaked phone recording between Hill and his then-girlfriend. It was a bad look, but anyone who listened to the recording knew that it wasn't as damning as it first seemed. In fact, I thought it actually brought into question the allegations Hill had pleaded guilty to years before against the same woman.
Tyreek Hill's past only further clouds his present legal circumstances.
Nonetheless, Chiefs Kingdom held its breath while the rest of the world rushed to presume guilt (as it too often so foolishly does.) Even to this day, there are countless fans who think Tyreek really did break his son's arm, despite a police investigation clearing Hill of all allegations, and the NFL refusing to suspend him.
But, here we are again. While the alleged incident "only" involves a punch that stemmed from an argument with a marina employee, Tyreek's past reputation doesn't do him any favors. And he should know that. Hill should be avoiding this stuff like the plague and make it a point to keep some level of self-control at all times.
People get into bar fights all the time, and nobody cares. If it's bad enough the police might get called to break it up. Yes, this wasn't just some late-night brawl with the boys—would that have been better or worse for Hill?—my point still stands: without Tyreek's past reputation, I don't think this incident is nearly as big of a deal. I could be all wrong about this of course. If it comes out that Tyreek tackled the guy and just wailed on him, then yeah, his reputation will have very little to do with the consequences.
Speaking of consequences, despite the previous investigations proving Hill's innocence, it still cost him millions of dollars. At the time, the Chiefs took advantage of the bad PR and got Hill to sign a bargain contract extension. I've always wondered if that deal is ultimately what soured their relationship and got Hill sent to the Miami Dolphins.
Now the Dolphins have to deal with this mess going forward. I think of that scene from Men in Black where the cop brings a cat to the morgue and says, "There's a problem with the cat." "What's the problem?" "It's your problem now." That's how the Chiefs look now, and they are probably pretty happy to not have to deal with Tyreek Hill right now.
Oh and the shiny Super Bowl Ring probably helps too.