The Cleveland Browns made a controversial decision earlier this offseason when they signed Kareem Hunt. The running back is clearly very talented, but he had just been cut by the Kansas City Chiefs after a video surfaced of him kicking a woman.
It was a risky move; the Browns knew it would draw a lot of scrutiny. General manager John Dorsey drafted Hunt in Kansas City, so they had a clear connection with Hunt. Dorsey has said he believed in Hunt, but the Browns' owners apparently needed to be sold on the idea.
Browns owner Dee Haslam spoke at the owners' meetings Tuesday morning. She said that she and husband Jimmy Haslam met with Hunt prior to agreeing to sign him, according to Nate Ulrich of the Akron Beacon-Journal. Haslam said they met “weekly” with Hunt in the run-up to signing him.
Per Ulrich, Haslam said Hunt “made horrendous mistakes but owns them.”
Kareem Hunt had a remarkably quick rise and fall in the NFL. He came out of nowhere as a rookie to lead the league in rushing, and then was out of the league a year earlier. He had been on a tear before Kansas City cut him, scoring 14 touchdowns in the first 11 games of the 2018 season.
As a rookie he averaged 4.9 yards per carry, and he's an asset in the passing game as well. He was recently suspended for the first eight games of the 2019 season, but should make a big impact when he returns. If he can get his life off the field figured out, he'll form a dynamic backfield alongside Nick Chubb in Cleveland.
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