The biggest story in the NFL right now, is the Kareem Hunt video of him visibly hurting a woman. The video shows the Kansas City Chiefs running back pushing and kicking the woman, injuring her in the process. There is no place for a man to lay hands on a woman–in any circumstance whatsoever.
The video surfaced on the internet Friday, by way of TMZ. It's hard to fathom how a website like TMZ is able to get their hands on this video, while the NFL wasn't. The truth will come out about this situation in due time.
The Reuben Foster situation comes to mind when presented with what happened with Hunt. The San Francisco 49ers cut him shortly after. The Washington Redskins claimed Foster off of waivers though, with seemingly no remorse.
The Redskins organization understandably received a ton of backlash with the move. Doug Williams, Vice President of the Redskins, made an insensitive comment labeling Foster's alleged domestic violence allegations as “small potatoes”.
He has since apologized for his comments, while Foster has been placed on the commissioner's exempt list. This means he cannot take part in any team related activities or be with the team until the NFL does their due diligence of investigating the situation.
On Friday, Kareem Hunt found himself on the exempt list–as well as being sent home from practice immediately. He was then released by the Chiefs–with the Chiefs making a statement on the matter shortly after.
Statement from the Kansas City Chiefs on Kareem Hunt
➡️ https://t.co/MrjIX1Y7Ke pic.twitter.com/efSMqUDio1
— Kansas City Chiefs (@Chiefs) December 1, 2018
The Chiefs made the right decision in the end–even if they had the video prior to Friday. No matter how talented a player you are–there should be no tolerance to hitting a woman. Hopefully the NFL improves their stance on this issue–making a no tolerance policy going forward.
After his release from the organization, Kareem Hunt also released a statement regarding what he had done.
Statement from former Chiefs’ RB Kareem Hunt to ESPN: “I want to apologize for my actions. I deeply regret what I did. I hope to move on from this.”
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) December 1, 2018
Hunt will need to get help and hopefully we see him come out of this a better man. The Chiefs made a huge statement by releasing him. Hunt was the leading rusher in 2017–with 1,327 yards as a rookie. Through 12 weeks, Hunt was fifth in the NFL in rushing with 824 yards.
The Chiefs are 9-2–having one of their best seasons in franchise history and seem poised to make a run at the Super Bowl. Hunt was a huge cog in the Chiefs high-octane offense that averages 36.7 points per game (1st in NFL).
Above all, the Chiefs made a move exemplifying that they will no longer roster a guy who commits a heinous crime. This was absolutely the right move, even if the Chiefs miss the chance of playing in the Super Bowl come next February.
Hunt was seemingly becoming one of the best dual-threat running backs in the league. That no longer is the case, as Hunt will need to focus on matters bigger than football itself. We see football as a form of entertainment for ourselves and refuse to see these super-human players as regular human beings.
Hunt made an awful mistake and will need to deal with the consequences. The fact he played in the NFL should not be a topic of discussion. The crime he committed should be the topic of discussion instead. Hunt is 23-years old–old enough to know what he did was absolutely wrong.
Through the legal system, hopefully justice is served to Hunt–essentially bringing justice for the victim. For the NFL, they need to prevent him from returning to the league until Hunt changes his ways. Actions will need to speak louder than words in this situation–with Hunt needing to display an actual sense of change after this incident.
If the NFL as a business doesn't want to take domestic violence matters seriously–owners will need to grab the reins and set the example of what needs to be done. The NFL doesn't like to see these situations, as they ruin the reputation and the image of the league as a whole.
Now the NFL must take action and make all of their shortcomings in similar situations similar to Hunt's. Every year we seemingly have at least one report of a player committing domestic violence, with the. For allegedly hitting his former girlfriend last season, Ezekiel Elliott was handed a six-game suspension.
In the grand scheme of things, six games is a slap on the wrist for someone who assaulted a woman. With the ratings of NFL games steadily rising, it makes you wonder if the NFL hopes these situations disappear on their own. The thing is–these stories always reveal themselves and surveillance videos come out.
The NFL cannot continue to handle domestic violence situations as they have. A video surfacing shouldn't be the final straw that causes the NFL to act on these incidents. The league suffered a self-inflicted wound on Friday, that could've been avoided rather easily.
Going forward, the NFL must rally together and take a stand against domestic violence like they say they apparently do. There's no commercials or statements that can make this right, but actions by the league will. The Chiefs took a step in the right direction — even if getting rid of Kareem Hunt costs them a Super Bowl bid.
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