Is Tyreek Hill Fit to Play in the NFL?

Repeat offender (at least to this writer’s principles) Tyreek Hill of the Kansas City Chiefs from the NFL has shown that it depends on the character of the person if second chances are worthy or will work. Recently, an audio was leaked of Hill being recorded by his fiancée, Crystal Espinal. That 11-minute audio was published by KCTV5 and recorded while Hill and Espinal were walking in Dubai International Airport. Even though the contents of the audio were shocking, it was also not very surprising given Hill’s past demonstration of his shallow character.

A step into the not-so-distant past is in order to establish the type of character Tyreek Hill is. From Sports on Earth writer Andrea Hangst, January 10, 2017:

"In December 2014, Hill was arrested after his then 20-year-old pregnant girlfriend called the police in Stillwater, Okla., alleging assault. Hill was ultimately charged with domestic assault and battery by strangulation, and pled guilty to both. The arrest led to Hill being released from the Oklahoma State football team while also being sentenced to three years of probation, anger management classes, and other forms of rehabilitation."

Now, back to the present, on the audio recorded by Espinal, she accuses Hill of breaking their three-year-old son’s arm, of which she claims their son said, “Daddy did it.” Though Hill categorically denies being the cause of the young boy’s broken arm, Espinal replies in disbelief, “A three-year-old isn’t going to lie about what happened to his arm.” She also accuses Hill of requiring his son to open up his arms so Hill can punch the three-year-old in the chest as a form of discipline for crying. Espinal tells Hill that their son is terrified of him, to which Hill so manly responds, “You need to be terrified of me too, b----.” As far as Tyreek Hill’s character is concerned, that case is thoroughly rested.

In the context of his professional career, the question becomes is Tyreek Hill fit to play in the NFL? Physically, sure, but from a character standpoint—hell no. Yet, the sad thing about the current philosophical nature of the NFL, some other team desperate for a player that can help them win and devoid of any principles other than “whatever it takes to win” will almost certainly add him to their roster once the Kansas City Chiefs release him. It’s almost certain because recently it has already happened. When these same Kansas City Chiefs released Kareem Hunt after his own domestic abuse came to light, the Cleveland Browns wasted no time adding him to their roster, figuring that—although they didn’t know it at the time—a six-game suspension to Hunt by the NFL is more than worth the cost.

Some have argued that Tyreek Hill would be fair game if the league does not act and ban him from future play by adding him to the “exempt list.” Why is that necessary? Even with the threat of a possible collusion lawsuit, every NFL team should stand on principle and not allow such a deplorable human being on their team. For once, doing the right thing should outweigh the glittering prize at the end of the Super Bowl rainbow. There can and should be disagreements on a plethora of issues, but defining what is right and acceptable about how real men treat women and children should not be one of them. It would take less heavy lifting than that which is done in every NFL training weight room across the league. All it would take would be to finally and thoroughly reject the notion that the end justifies the means.

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