Chiefs' Clark Hunt says little, but speaks volumes about attitude toward Tyreek Hill
Kansas City Chiefs chairman Clark Hunt tried on Saturday to rationalize, justify and otherwise excuse away the team’s handling of receiver Tyreek Hill, underscoring something that has become clear: His organization doesn’t care one whit about domestic violence, and that lack of caring starts at the top.
Meeting with media members, Hunt gave flimsy answers when asked about Hill, who is being investigated for child abuse by authorities in Johnson County, Kansas. Hill’s 3-year-old son with fiancee Crystal Espinal suffered a broken arm and authorities are trying to figure out who caused the injury.
Clark noted that the Chiefs have suspended Hill for the “foreseeable future,” but it’s not much of a suspension since organized team activities are voluntary.
‘That’s a risk you take’
Perhaps the most troubling thing Hunt said on Saturday was when he said drafting any player comes with risks.
“I think on any player you bring into the organization, there’s some element of risk. Could be his playing ability, could be things that distract him off the field, as well as any trouble that they get into. That’s a risk you take,” he said.
Comparing a second-round pick who is an on-field disappointment after three seasons to one who is being investigated for child abuse is ludicrous.
Almost as ludicrous: The Chiefs knew full well what they were getting when they drafted Hill in 2016. He had pleaded guilty to domestic assault and battery by strangulation in 2015, after an incident when he was at Oklahoma State.
Espinal, who was pregnant at the time, alleged that during an argument Hill punched her in the face and stomach and choked her.
When then-Chiefs general manager John Dorsey and coach Andy Reid drafted Hill in 2016, they said they were “very comfortable” with the decision.
Last week, Kansas City held a welcome-to-the-Chiefs news conference for pass rusher Frank Clark, who they acquired from Seattle in a trade and promptly signed to a contract with $63.5 million in guaranteed money.
When Clark was a senior at Michigan in 2014, police responded to a disturbance call at an Ohio hotel room and found Clark’s girlfriend, Diamond Hurt, with marks on her neck and face; multiple guests at the hotel heard yelling and screaming from the couple’s hotel room, and said Hurt was unconscious on the floor.
He was initially charged with first-degree misdemeanor domestic violence, but that was later reduced to fourth-degree persistent disorderly conduct, paying court fees and completing a domestic violence awareness class.
‘We were deeply disturbed’
Hunt reiterated the franchise talking point that he and team brass were “deeply disturbed” by the audio of Hunt and Espinal recorded by Espinal and released by a Kansas City news organization on Thursday night.
In it, Hill and Espinal are discussing their treatment of their son; Espinal pushes back against the notion that she has used a belt to punish the boy, but does seem to admit to spanking him.
She accuses Hill of using a belt and punching the child in the chest when he’s crying, and said the boy told others “Daddy did it” when asked about his broken arm.
At one point, Espinal says, “He’s terrified of you,” to which Hill responds, “You should be terrified of me too, bitch.”
But being “disturbed” by what he heard and knowing Hill has a history of such behavior isn’t enough for Hunt and the Chiefs to say enough is enough.
Being a three-time Pro Bowler has benefits beyond free trips to Orlando to play in the exhibition game, apparently.
‘We’re going to go through the process’
Hunt, like general manager Brett Veach and Reid, doesn’t seem like he’s ready for the team to cut ties with Hill. Unlike a few months ago, when the Chiefs cut Kareem Hunt when video surfaced of the running back kicking at a woman on the floor outside his Cleveland apartment, Clark Hunt pointed to the ongoing investigation into Hill as cover.
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Based on reporting at the time, it seems clear that Kareem Hunt was released not because of what happened, but because he lied to Kansas City about the incident when the team learned of it months earlier.
Clark Hunt seems to think a suspension from largely voluntary offseason activities is sufficient.
“I really can’t [talk about it] because that goes back to the ongoing investigation with Tyreek and really our ability to get information,” Hunt said. “That audio was really among the first information we received of the investigation.”
Asked the difference between the situations with Kareem Hunt and Hill, Clark Hunt said, “I would just point out that Tyreek is not with the franchise right now, and we’re going to go through the process, and as Brett said, we’ll make the right decision about Tyreek at the right time.”
He declined to detail the Chiefs’ review process or offer a timeline for when the team would make a decision on Hill.
The NFL and most of its member clubs have made it clear time and again that they pay little more than lip service when it comes to domestic violence.
Of all people, however, Clark Hunt should have a greater understanding than most owners and league executives of the horrors of domestic violence: Little more than six years ago, during his stewardship, Chiefs linebacker Jovan Belcher murdered his girlfriend in front of his own mother and then killed himself in the parking lot of the team’s practice facility.
Being so close to such a tragedy seems to have done little to change the Chiefs’ approach to players with a history of domestic violence.
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