Ricky Dimon
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The Kareem Hunt era in Kansas City has come to a shocking but not-so-sudden end. Although the ending of his tenure in a Chiefs uniform was abrupt, Hunt’s exit does not come totally out of the blue. After all, it had been well-documented that the star running back got into an altercation with a woman at a Cleveland hotel this past offseason (in February). Police were called to the scene but no arrests were made; with that, media coverage of the incident vanished after now more than a few days. Then Friday struck. TMZ recently released a video of Hunt pushing the woman to the ground and then kicking her. The rest is history.
First, the NFL put Hunt on the Commissioner Exempt List while issuing the following statement:
“The NFL has placed Kareem Hunt of the Kansas City Chiefs on the Commissioner Exempt list, and as a result, he may not practice, play or attend games. The NFL’s investigation, which began immediately following the incident in February, will include a review of the new information that was made public today.”
That led to speculation that Hunt–who was briefly at practice on Friday afternoon before being excused when word of the video got around–would miss at least this Sunday’s game at lowly Oakland (the Chiefs are -14 favorites, down only one point from an opening at -15), and likely a few more. Well, the second-year sensation out of Toledo will miss that one against the Raiders; and another one; and another after that–at least for Kansas City, that is. Not more than an hour following the league’s statement, the Chiefs released Hunt.
“Earlier this year, we were made aware of an incident involving running back Kareem Hunt,” the team stated. “At that time, the National Football League and law enforcement initiated investigations into the issue. As part of our internal discussions with Kareem, several members of our management team spoke directly to him. Kareem was not truthful in those discussions. The video released today confirms that fact. We are releasing Kareem immediately.”
K.C. could have seen it coming. In addition to the February incident, Hunt was also accused of punching a man earlier this season. When asked about his off-the-field issues in August, he simply answered that he had learned from it and was focused on football.
And when he was focused on football, Hunt was a terror on the field. In 2017, Hunt led the NFL in rushing as a rookie with 1,327 yards to go along with eight touchdowns. In 11 games with Kansas City this year, he gained 824 yards on the ground and scored 14 total touchdowns (seven rushing, seven receiving).
The post-Hunt timeline for Kansas City will be an immediate increase in the workload of fellow running back Spencer Ware. Head coach Andy Reid’s squad will also try to put the ball in the arms of fellow playmaker Tyreek Hill as often as possible; that means via handoffs in addition to passes from Patrick Mahomes to his favorite receiver. Sammy Watkins, another WR who has carries out of the backfield this season (five, while Hill has 13) will also be asked to do more.
K.C. has dropped to +550 to win the Super Bowl, while it is still a slight favorite over New England to win the AFC (+210 to the Patriots’ +230).
