The most anticipated time of the year finally arrived this past weekend as the NFL season kicked off. Of course, this highly awaited moment wasn’t without drama and controversy. The first game started where last season left off, as the Chiefs and the refs joined forces like The Avengers again. We followed that game on Friday, with Roger Goodell deciding that player safety had taken a backseat to his wallet in Brazil, where the game was played on a Spanish version of the Rockefeller Center ice rink. Yet neither of these games was talked about on Monday and Tuesday morning as much as the big event of the weekend: The Tyreek Hill situation that saw him being detained by police outside his stadium right before kickoff.
The Traffic Stop
While driving to the game on Sunday, Tyreek was pulled over for speeding right outside the stadium. As fans walked by, Tyreek handed his license to the officers and then told them repeatedly “Don’t knock on my window like that.” Then, he commanded them to go get his ticket so he could leave. After making his demands, he rolled his window up, while an officer told him (repeatedly) to leave it down. Tyreek lowered it just enough to say to the cops “Don’t tell me what to do.”
The cops then told him to get out of the car a few times, which he ignored. At this point, the cops were fed up with his lack of cooperation and dragged him out. One officer was being too overly aggressive, as he was tired of Tyreek’s disrespect. Things continued to escalate as Hill was thrown to the ground, all while on his phone yelling to his agent (whom he called immediately) that he was being arrested. Tyreek also refused to sit on the ground after, which led to the cops having to forcefully help him down. Tyreek kept telling them to “chill” while this happened, citing his recent knee surgery.
Other Players Try to Get Involved
While he was being detained, teammates pulled in front and got out of their car. Calais Campbell began walking towards them but was told to stay back. He then was told to get in his car multiple times and didn’t, which led to him being detained as well. This would be again for the officers’ safety, as they need to control the crowd at that moment. They didn’t know who Campbell was, and therefore couldn’t tell immediately he wasn’t a threat. The one officer did again show a bit too much overzealousness in handling that situation, as it could have been de-escalated.
Eventually, Hill and Campbell were released, with Tyreek receiving two tickets. He went on to play in the game. He even scored a TD and mocked the entire event with a handcuff celebration. One officer was placed on administrative leave, which is protocol for this.
Tyreek Has Plenty of Defenders
Usually, in these situations, both sides will have their staunch believers who will defend their opinions, regardless of logic. Taking to whatever we call Twitter these days you’ll see that was once again the case. People are either vehemently pro-Tyreek or pro-police. The pro-Tyreek side seemed to get more media attention, of course. His agent went on TV to malign the police while the NFL Network used talking heads to disavow Tyreeks behavior.
The main argument was the reaction and behavior of the police officers. Ian Rapaport for the NFL Network chose to recount the event by discussing the police response while ignoring Tyreek’s actions altogether. He also appeared to be trying to hold back tears while recounting the event, firmly clutching his pearls. Drew Rosenhaus (Tyreek’s agent) went on the Dan LeBetard show demanding the cops’ immediate termination while excusing his client’s behavior. Simply put, they think Tyreek did no wrong and was made an unwilling victim of circumstance.
The Tyreek sympathizers are just looking to pretend that anything before the traffic stop never happened. Most either have a pre-conceived bias against cops or they’re focused solely on what happened when Tyreek got out of the car. His lack of cooperation and disrespect towards the police is a moot point.
Tyreek Has a History
A lot of people think because the police recognized Tyreek that they were overly aggressive and targeting him. You can hear one of the cops acknowledge it was Tyreek in the footage, so it’s clear they were aware of who he was. However, their response could have had more to do with knowing about his behavior off the field as opposed to what he does on it.
Tyreek has a well-known violent history. He was arrested in college for assaulting his pregnant girlfriend and settled out of court with a man he allegedly assaulted in Florida after signing with the Dolphins. He was also investigated for child abuse of his son, which led to audio being released where he told the boys’ mother “You need to be afraid of me, too, bitch.”
This is the same woman he was arrested for assaulting in college.
Knowing this, police had every reason to be concerned about what he was doing behind those tinted windows. Traffic stops can become dangerous immediately, and they don’t know what he’s doing in there. You can argue all you want that a millionaire athlete in their prime would never be dumb enough to pull a weapon or do something stupid to mess up their career. You can also do a quick Google search of “Aaron Hernandez” “Ray Rice” or “Plaxico Burress” or honestly just “NFL players and crime” to see that argument holds no weight. Being a cop is a dangerous job, and when you know a person has a violent history, it’s fair cause to be on high alert. This is why we’re told to keep our hands where they can see them.
The Dolphins and Tyreek Speak
The Dolphins chose to put out a statement calling the officers “overly aggressive and violent”. They also called the entire event “maddening and heartbreaking.” Nowhere in their statement do they acknowledge Tyreek’s role in this or how he handled it. The Dolphins then echoed Hill’s own statement, “What if I wasn’t Tyreek Hill”, pushing to cause further divide.
To be fair, this is probably something the Dolphins have asked themselves before, which is why they turn a blind eye to his past discretions. The double standard that the Dolphins and Tyreek defenders are using is absurd. The guy’s a millionaire athlete with a long history of aggressive offenses against women, men, and possibly a child. If someone who couldn’t run 4.25 assaults their pregnant girlfriend, they aren’t rewarded with $30 million a year contracts. Hill’s narcissism and ego were on display during the traffic stop, as he seemed to think the rules didn’t apply to him. Clearly, neither do the Dolphins.
Tyreek himself has just spoken about the incident, admitting that he should have followed the rules. After these 3 seconds of humbleness, he immediately called for the firing of one of the officers and exaggerated the incident. “He’s gotta go, man,” Tyreek told reporters. He then claimed the cops “beat the dog” out of him. If the little use of force the officers showed is considered “beating the dog” out of him, I don’t know how he’d characterize what he did to his own pregnant girlfriend.
The Truth is This Could Have Been Avoided
At the end of the day, people need to understand the entire situation. Try to put yourself in the shoes of both parties and use common sense. Then try to evaluate the entire ordeal. While Tyreek’s fans are clearly on his side, they should think about how it would look if this happened to them. If the police pull you over, do you not listen to them and follow orders? The police didn’t ask for anything crazy, they simply wanted him to leave his window rolled down for their well-being. Anyone who disagrees with a cop wanting to ensure their safety has no idea how the world works. Also true is the fact one cop was being a bit too overly aggressive. Their main goal should be to de-escalate situations, which he failed to do.
NFL fans love to Monday morning quarterback their team, and that’s what a lot are doing for this situation. While people can make assumptions and think they would have handled the moment better, just like when it comes to failed pass attempts or boneheaded coaching decisions, they weren’t there facing the actual pressure. Both sides could have managed this differently, but unfortunately, it became what it did. It can be true that one officer was being too aggressive, while also acknowledging Tyreek wasn’t being compliant. Calling for the cop to be fired though is extremely hypocritical. This is especially true coming from someone who has had as many chances as Tyreek. If he could run a 4.25 though, I’m sure the Dolphins would gladly welcome him. Hell, most fans calling for his head would have him on their fantasy team.
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