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Complicated feelings for Tyreek Hill and others as playoffs progress
Tyreek Hill of the Kansas City Chiefs, like a few other players in the playoffs, has a history with domestic violence that does not always sit well with fans. Joe Sargent/Getty Images

Complicated feelings for Tyreek Hill, others as playoffs progress

With the Chiefs preparing for a divisional round playoff game against the Steelers following their first playoff bye in 13 years, a lot has been printed this week about how fans should square their feelings about Kansas City’s multi-faceted Tyreek Hill, perhaps the franchise’s most exciting player on the field since Dante Hall.

Hill in 2015 pleaded guilty to domestic assault and battery for hitting and choking his pregnant girlfriend. He was kicked off the Oklahoma State team and finished his college career at Division II West Alabama. According to Sports Illustrated, one NFC general manager considered Hill a second or third-round talent but instructed his staff to stay away from him.

The Chiefs, four years removed from having Jovan Belcher murder his girlfriend and then commit suicide at the team facility in front of general manager Scott Pioli and head coach Romeo Crennel, elected to take Hill in the fifth round of the 2016 draft.

The team took hefty criticism for the selection. Andy Reid said he understood the reaction, and defended it by noting Hill undergoing an anger-management course and a year-long batterer’s program as part of his sentencing. Those efforts helped Reid’s wife Tammy, who has been active in domestic violence causes since he became a head coach, come to accept the move.

Right after he was drafted, Hill responded to a question about what he learned from incident, to which he replied, “I’ve just got to be better at choosing my friends.” He later apologized for that statement, saying it was the wrong way to look at the experience, and that he had no one to blame but himself. Hill, for what it’s worth, didn’t begrudge his critics at the start of rookie minicamp back in May.

“Those fans have every right to be mad at me, because I did something wrong, I let my emotions get the best of me. and I shouldn’t have did it. They have every right to be mad. But guess what? I’m (about) to come back and be a better man, be a better citizen, and everything will take care of itself, and let God do the rest.”

That Hill has been on good behavior since is a nice thing, it doesn’t make this situation any less complicated, nor does it mean he has been redeemed. There are players guilty of similar acts who had their careers ended, but certainly nowhere near all. Making sense of which ones means navigating the arbitrary standard of evidence required by both the NFL and the public at large. Most players never get the Ray Rice style reveal.

The sudden spike of attention on Hill is happening now because he’s a breakout player on a team that’s relatively devoid of storylines otherwise. He was second on the team in receiving despite only technically starting one game, and scored 12 touchdowns. In an offense that has come to be defined by the conservative play of quarterback Alex Smith, he’s an explosive element.

Novelty and ascendance mean Hill’s crime is a fresh talking point. This usually leads to broadcasters or writers suggesting or implying that prowess on the field is an avenue to possible redemption, as if that were possible. I’m not sure anyone really believes that’s true, and that such a discussion is a way for people to put transgressions in a place of the past, where they don’t have to constantly be confronted.

That has played out time and again in the NFL. There are plenty of examples, even just among the teams still alive in the postseason. After all, the Steelers, the Chiefs’ opponent on Sunday, has two similar cases. Ben Roethlisberger has twice been accused of rape. James Harrison was charged with assaulting his girlfriend in 2008 when he was attempting to take his son to be baptized and she disapproved. Steelers chairman Dan Rooney initially defended Harrison at the time, saying his intent was noble. Charges were dropped when he agreed to enter counseling and his girlfriend said she did not want to pursue the case. Yet, when the Steelers brought Harrison back to the team in 2014 after a year in Cincinnati, head coach Mike Tomlin admitted Harrison got by because his offense happened during a time when domestic violence was more openly tolerated by the NFL. While Roethlisberger’s incidents are frequently mentioned by fans, Harrison’s is largely forgotten.

Cowboys star rookie running back Ezekiel Elliott is still being investigated by the NFL for an incident in July in which he was accused of domestic violence by an ex-girlfriend. Prosecutors declined to bring charges citing conflicting statements between witnesses and the accuser. After botching its investigation into Josh Brown in 2016, it’s possible the league is trying to be thorough. Others see it as a way to delay releasing their findings until after a season in which Dallas has helped carry the ratings of many high-profile games. Dez Bryant was charged in 2012 for allegedly assaulting his mother. That was dropped on the condition that he completed counseling and didn’t get charged with another crime for a full year.

The Seahawks drafted Frank Clark in 2015 after he was kicked off the team at Michigan the previous November when he was charged with assaulting his girlfriend at a hotel in Ohio. His girlfriend told police he struck her. Her younger brothers said the same thing. A night manager at the hotel claimed Clark told her “I will hit you like I hit her” when she entered the room. Clark eventually plead guilty to a disorderly conduct charge in a deal with prosecutors. The Seahawks never interviewed any of the witnesses. Clark remains on the team and had 10 sacks in five starts during the regular season this year.

Falcons defensive lineman Ra’Shede Hageman was arrested in March on three misdemeanor charges, including assault on a family member. Atlanta had let go of linebacker Prince Shembo the previous year for killing his girlfriend’s dog. Shembo had also been accused of sexual assault while in college. The Falcons released undrafted linebacker Torrey Green in August after sexual assault allegations surfaced. Yet Hageman remains.

Packers defensive tackle Letroy Guion has had a stalking charge and multiple domestic violence incidents, one of which included him hitting the mother of his child in the jaw. Of course, when Guion was suspended by the NFL in 2015, it was for drug and gun possession. He’s Green Bay’s starting nose tackle. He registered three tackles in the team’s Wild Card win over New York.

It may not be overlooking violence, nevertheless the Patriots were fine bringing on receiver Michael Floyd after he was charged with a “Super Extreme DUI” in Arizona in December. He was released by the Cardinals following the arrest and scooped by the receiver-needy Patriots two days later. He played the team’s Week 17 game in Miami and scored a touchdown.

As you can see, there’s a litany of examples just among teams that are alive in the playoffs of terrible conduct being abided in the service of winning. It’s important to keep reminding ourselves of it, and not to delude ourselves into thinking any one organization is better or worse with it. They’re all capable of it.

 

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