Last month, Tyreek Hill completed the restructure of his NFL contract with the Miami Dolphins. He signed a three-year, $90 million deal with $65 million in guarantees. Hill was ecstatic about his revised contract and stated he would be a Dolphin for the rest of his career.
Hill is arguably the fastest player in the league. He was Track and Field News “High School Athlete of the Year” in 2012 and used his speed to star at Garden City Community College in Garden City, Kansas; Hill ran track and played football. As a sophomore in 2013, Hill ran for 659 rushing yards and five touchdowns while catching 67 passes for 532 receiving yards. He moved on to Oklahoma State University in Stillwater, Oklahoma.
In his only season at Oklahoma State, Hill had 534 rushing yards and one touchdown, 31 receptions for 381 receiving yards and a touchdown, 30 kick returns for 740 return yards and two touchdowns, and 27 punt returns for 256 punt return yards and a touchdown. As a running back, wide receiver, and returner, he accounted for 1,811 all-purpose yards and six touchdowns. On December 11, 2014, Oklahoma State dismissed Hill from their football and track teams following his arrest and guilty plea for domestic violence.
Hill still had a year of eligibility, but most programs didn’t want to touch him. Initially, the University of West Alabama in Livingston, Alabama, turned him down. Then head coach Brett Gilliland changed his mind after talking to Hill, people at Hill’s previous two schools, and a high school mentor. Hill’s plea agreement called for him to either be enrolled in college or employed. He never exceeded 100 yards rushing or receiving in eleven games for the team and averaged 135 all-purpose yards until a 307-all-purpose-yard game against Delta State in Game 8. Hill was projected to go undrafted by the NFL because of his domestic violence record and wasn’t invited to the NFL combine. Scouts were impressed by his West Alabama Pro Day workout and, of course, his speed. The Kansas City Chiefs drafted Hill in the fifth round, signing him to a four-year, $2.58 million contract that included $100,000 guaranteed and a signing bonus of $70,000.
Hill went on to become a star with the Chiefs, earning six Pro Bowl trips and appearing in two Super Bowls, with the Chiefs winning one. The Chiefs couldn’t afford to bring all their players back, and Hill was traded to the Miami Dolphins, where he signed a four-year, $120 million deal with $75 million guaranteed. Hill’s time in Kansas City was not without incident. He was investigated and eventually cleared for a child abuse incident, eventually ruled an accident by medical investigations. Miami-Dade police investigated Hill for allegedly assaulting a worker at the Haulover Marine Center. Hill and the worker settled. Hill has also been involved in separate paternity and child support lawsuits with two women. Whatever Hill’s heroics have been on the field, his personal life has been questioned more than once.
Hill was involved in another incident on Sunday, September 9, 2024, on his way to work at the Dolphins season opener at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, FL. Hard Rock Stadium used to be Joe Robbie Stadium, which I’ve been to in a work capacity several times. I’ve worked there at two Super Bowls, a World Series, the Florida Marlins home opener, and several concerts. When I worked there, the stadium was in unincorporated Dade County, with law enforcement provided by the Miami-Dade police. Since then, the city of Miami Gardens has been incorporated. The much larger Miami-Dade Police Department still provides police services for the stadium.
Hill was stopped about a block from the stadium, allegedly for reckless driving, according to police. He was removed from his car, handcuffed, and later forced to the ground, where one officer reportedly had his knee on Hill’s back for a short period. One officer appears to have struck Hill multiple times.
All players enter the stadium at the same gate, and several of Hill’s teammates saw him being handcuffed and stopped to help their teammate. Miami Dolphins defensive tackle Calais Campbell was also handcuffed for allegedly failing to follow a police order. Campbell received the Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year Award in 2019, recognizing his philanthropic work off the field.
“I see Tyreek in handcuffs, I’d seen, I feel like excessive force, so I get out of the car to kind of just try to deescalate the situation and I think the officer just — I don’t know why he felt the need to put me in handcuffs, but I mean it is what it is.
I guess I wasn’t — he said I was too close to the scene, and then I think he said something about me not moving my car in time. I don’t know. He told me later I could stand 25 feet away, that’s fine. I was definitely further than 25 feet away when that happened.” — Calais Campbell
Ultimately, neither Hill nor Campbell were arrested, merely “detained,” according to the police and team statements. I’m trying to conceive of a traffic offense that required a driver to be taken from his car, handcuffed, and forced to the ground that didn’t require an arrest. Body cam footage from the police hasn’t been released yet. One of the four officers involved was placed on administrative duties while the incident is being investigated.
“Following the incident involving Tyreek Hill, I have initiated an Internal Affairs investigation to ensure a thorough review of the matter," said Director Stephanie V. Daniels. "One of the officers involved in the incident has been placed on administrative duties while the investigation is conducted. I’m committed to transparency and accountability to the community with any situation involving my officers.”
While Hill has had multiple past incidents unrelated to this stop, the Miami-Dade Police Department has a history as well, with complaints going back years of racism both within the department and against Dade County citizens, particularly young Black ones. Could a young Black man driving a McLaren 720 costing a couple hundred grand have triggered one of them?
More evidence will likely be released because the incident was so high profile. Most, if not all, parties are incentivized to underplay the incident. The police don’t want the negative exposure, but the team still needs to work with the police, and while Hill’s first instinct was to bring attention to his being handcuffed in a touchdown celebration after an 80-yard reception, someone in his camp will tell him it’s in his best interest to be quiet. Luckily, the Dolphins won their game, and the police won’t be blamed for a loss. It will take an investigation by the media and release of video to get to the truth. Had this not involved a star NFL player in front of other witnesses, including teammates, this could have gone worse than it did.
This post originally appeared on Medium and is edited and republished with author's permission. Read more of William Spivey's work on Medium. And if you dig his words, buy the man a coffee.
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