Surprised by silence on Tyreek Hill? Don't be

When was the last time you heard anything about the Tyreek Hill situation? Two weeks have passed since audio of Hill and his fiancée, Crystal Espinal, was released by Kansas City's KCTV. Espinal is heard on it accusing Hill of hitting their 3-year-old son. She tells him that the child is “terrified” of him. Hill’s response: “You need to be terrified of me, too, b---h.”

Since then, the Chiefs have barred Hill from team activities, the NFL has sat by silently, and most of the football world has moved on to the “so-and-so was released and picked up by…” portion of the offseason. In other words, things are back to normal.

That’s how it typically is when it comes to the NFL and domestic violence, drunk driving or other seamy behavior. Think about the way the whole thing is playing out, with the NFL staying on the sidelines, doing nothing. Fans should be outraged. Consuming professional football, though, involves getting in touch with your nihilistic side. Most fans simply bury ugly off-field news somewhere deep in their brains so they can enjoy the product on it.

Hill’s career is a perfect example of this. Many knew of his history of domestic violence when the Chiefs drafted him. There was a brief uproar, he started to play well and the outcry that was pervasive when he came into the league dissipated.

All of this is by design, of course. The NFL wants you to consume the on-field product and let it worry about any unpleasant side effects.

Don’t want to reckon with whether or not to cheer a guy like Hill or put him on your fantasy team? It’s all good. Roger Goodell and the owners who empower him have your back. Let them deal with the heavy stuff, the emotional freight that so many would rather not carry. Make sure you update your fantasy team appropriately.

Don't expect the NFL to act swiftly, though. It tends to plod, even though it has the resources to move quickly and decisively. Ray Rice assaulted his then-fiancee (and now wife) Janay Rice on Feb. 15, 2014. He was not suspended indefinitely by Goodell until Sept. 8, 2014. Had TMZ not leaked a much more graphic video of the incident, Rice's suspension would have stayed at two games, his initial punishment.

Don't expect the league to learn from its mistakes. Goodell evidently learned no lessons from the Rice saga. Cleveland.com reported on Kareem Hunt's altercation with a woman at a downtown hotel on Feb. 10, 2018. No charges were filed. TMZ released ugly video of the incident on Nov. 30, 2018, showing Hunt kicking and shoving a woman. That same day, the Chiefs released him, and the league placed him on the commissioner's exempt list. He cleared waivers and was picked up by the Browns on Feb. 11, 2019. His eight-game suspension was not announced until March 15. 

Most of all, don’t delude yourself into thinking that the powers that be who run the most powerful athletic and cultural institution in this country actually care whether or not Tyreek Hill or any other bad actor has his behavior addressed and checked in any tangible way. 

This is an optics game for the NFL. The audio exchange between Espinal and Hill was enough for police to re-open their investigation into injuries suffered by the couple's son. But had the audio never surfaced, the Chiefs and NFL probably would have moved on. No evidence, nothing to see here.

It would have been a “he said, she said” situation. There would have been little need for Goodell to do anything. He would have waited out the fallout, which wouldn’t have taken long. Then training camp would have started, and most of the questions about Hill would have dealt with his ability to overcome “distractions.”

If the re-opened criminal investigation results in charges against Hill, he will be suspended by the league and the Chiefs will drop him, but another team will pick him up. (See Hunt, Cleveland.) Hill's talent will be too tantalizing to pass up.

The question any fan has to answer, yet again, is to what degree he or she wants to continue tolerating this unseemly side of the NFL. I don’t have an easy answer for that one.