With Super Bowl approaching, Chiefs’ Tyreek Hill reflects on past year, looks ahead
Many people wish they could go back in time and provide advice to a younger version of themselves in order to better prepare for life ahead.
Kansas City Chiefs wide receiver Tyreek Hill is no different.
Hill fielded numerous questions about Sunday’s Super Bowl LIV against the San Francisco 49ers during Thursday’s final media session ahead of this weekend’s game.
He smiled a lot and joked with some international reporters, even taking a moment to record greetings to viewers around the world at their request.
Then The Star asked the two-time All-Pro and four-time Pro Bowler what he might tell a younger Tyreek to steer himself in the right direction.
Hill, who’d initially sat in his chair leaning forward toward a microphone, listened to the question, then leaned back slightly, absorbing the inquiry.
When he moved back toward the microphone, the smile was gone, replaced by a thoughtful pause. The superstar receiver then offered this response:
“That’s a good question,” Hill said. “Man, if I could go back to 11th grade and just tell myself, ‘You got everything, and whatever it takes to be one of the best high school players in the state of Georgia, all you’ve got to do is believe in yourself, get your education and just listen to your elders.’
“I feel like I took all of that stuff for granted. I took my education for granted in high school. I didn’t go to class, I didn’t do any of that, trying to be a cool kid. So, if I could go back in time and tell myself that, I feel like I wouldn’t be going through the things that happened in my life.”
The road to Miami
The 25-year-old Hill has certainly experienced his share of high-profile and well-documented life events as a young adult.
While playing football at Oklahoma State, Hill was arrested in December 2014 for felony domestic assault and battery related to charges that he struck and choked his then-pregnant girlfriend, Crystal Espinal. He pleaded guilty in August 2015 and received three years of probation but no jail time as part of a plea agreement.
The Chiefs used a fifth-round pick in the 2016 NFL Draft to select Hill, who’d enrolled at West Alabama following his dismissal at Oklahoma State. Their stated due diligence into Hill’s background included talking to the Payne County District Attorney’s office in Oklahoma.
Hill went on to produce prolific numbers as one of the NFL’s top stars on offense, becoming a two-time All-Pro selection in his first three seasons. He’s now well known for what he does on the football field, and had remained under the radar off the field until March 2019, when Hill and Espinal’s son was removed from their home in Overland Park, Kansas, following allegations of child abuse and neglect.
After a month-long investigation, Johnson County District Attorney Steve Howe declined to press charges. But Hill was not in the clear yet; the Chiefs kept the wide receiver away from their offseason workout program while the NFL continued to conduct its own investigation.
After about four months, the NFL announced that it had declined to discipline Hill and he was cleared to return to the Chiefs in time for their training camp of 2019.
While he made it through the legal process and the league’s administrative procedures, Hill arguably still hasn’t made it past the court of public opinion, especially outside of Kansas City.
And there he sat Monday during the Super Bowl’s Opening Night event, likely knowing the questions would come from the mass of reporters huddled around him. When they did, Hill emphasized that he relied on his faith to get through last offseason’s events and how he strives to become a better man and father.
“My parents raised me to always believe in God and have faith in whatever you’re going through, because there are people who are having worse days than you, and your good days are always going to outweigh your bad days,” Hill said. “I had a rough patch or whatever, but I was able to bounce through because of my faith and because of the people I had around me and my supporting cast. And I was able to still see my son, you know, and he knows what’s going on.
“Having my son around me during those moments was the real thing I needed, like, ‘Hey buddy, I’m always going to be there, I’m always going to be your father. I love you.’ And he still tells me to this day, ‘Daddy, you’re my best friend no matter what.’”
Hill said he remained confident during that time that he wouldn’t be away from football for long. And he was right.
“I always knew I was going to play,” he said. “It was just some things had to get worked out. I just had to trust the process, and that’s it.”
Reciprocity
The Chiefs invested a draft pick in Hill because they believed in him.
The team then stood by him during the investigatory processes last spring and summer, and rewarded him with a three-year, $54 million contract extension on Sept. 6, 2019 after he was reinstated.
“I think part of it was our experience with him over the four years that he’d been with us,” Chiefs chairman and CEO Clark Hunt said. “We knew him as an individual. We clearly wanted as much information as possible from the legal proceedings that were going on, and we wanted to make sure that he was in a good place emotionally, and there weren’t going to be anymore surprises down the road.”
Earning that contract extension was a humbling experience for Hill, who comes from a small town in Pearson, Georgia.
“For the Chiefs to give me that amount of money, I’m truly blessed,” Hill said. “I thank them for that. I thank Clark Hunt, I thank Coach (Andy) Reid for this opportunity, I thank (general manager Brett) Veach for this opportunity and I would never let those guys down.
“I will never let my family down. I want to keep getting those extensions because that kind of felt good. I’m not going to count it (the money). It felt good for a minute. I love being in KC. I love the fans, I love the support that they give us, and then Arrowhead is just amazing. Playing in Arrowhead is crazy.”
Hill repaid the team’s support with 58 catches for 860 yards and seven touchdowns in 2019, helping the Chiefs to a 12-4 record and a fourth straight AFC West title en route to Sunday’s Super Bowl matchup against the 49ers.
Hunt said Hill has shown the Chiefs the personal growth they’ve wanted to see.
“First of all, I think I’d go back to his first year with us when there were some question marks about him coming in the league,” Hunt said. “We never had any issues with him. He always was where he was supposed to be, doing what he was supposed to be doing, accountable to the team, listening to his coaches — a good teammate.
“And I think we’ve seen that grow over the last three or four years. Certainly, I sense a heightened level of maturity from him this year, which is probably a byproduct of the challenges that he went through earlier this year.”
Reid agreed.
“Tyreek’s done a nice job with having signed the contract but also his life off the field and managing that,” Reid said. “I’m proud of him for that, to see growth in somebody. You like to see that with these young guys. He’s doing well as a father, and he’s doing well as a football player, and we’re lucky to have him.”
Moving forward
Hill said Thursday that he prefers to move forward and not look back on what has happened in his life. He’s a father of three, and he said his world views have changed because of his children.
“Life is too short for all this crazy stuff,” Hill said. “So I just feel like my kids are the most important things to me. My kids are the ones who are going to carry on my legacy.
“First, I’ve got to leave a good legacy for my kids to carry on, so that’s why I’ve got to do everything I can to stay in their life and raise them the right way, love on them. I love my babies, especially my daughter.”
He remains under a microscope publicly, and perhaps always will, but Hill said he’s a changed person — one who appreciates the support of those who are around him the most.
“One thing that kind of gets swept to the side is as coaches we develop personal relationships with the people that come into the building,” offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy said. “All you ever want is to watch the people grow and be successful, so I’ve enjoyed watching his maturity level from day one until now.”
“He understands the situation that had taken place and how it molded him into a better person,” Chiefs wide receivers coach Greg Lewis said. “He’s taking advantage of these opportunities as he continues to move forward with his life.”
