Fallacious Redemption
On my list of things that I enjoy doing, writing another blog about Tyreek Hill’s situation ranks a little below emptying the dishwasher, but more circumstances have come up, and people seem to want to know what I think, so here we go.
We all finally got to hear the entire conversation with Hill that Crystal Espinal taped at the Dubai airport. Channel 5 reporter Angie Ricono plumbed the depths of “journalism” by only providing excerpts of the tape that Espinal provided to her, citing now easy to deem dubious reasons, such as revealing “intimate details” of the couple’s sex life. Unless Hill saying that he wished he never had sex with Espinal qualifies, that was farcical.
Ricono clearly had an agenda, and obviously wanted to put Espinal and her claims in the best light possible. What she unwittingly did was just the opposite, somehow now helping Hill immensely. How so, you may ask? Well, if everyone had heard the entire tape first, there would have been plenty of outrage against the Chiefs wide receiver. He blithely said that Espinal, a woman it’s now clear to see he thinks is crazy, can have their three kids. He tacitly admits that he punched the child in the chest, and by saying “you use the belt, too”, obviously cops to that as well. And of course there is the always delightful “You should be terrified of me, too….dumb bitch”
For these reasons, and others, neither of the couple has custody of the children. These are all significant reasons why in my mind, Hill shouldn’t play football for the Chiefs, and if he plays for anyone, it should be after a hefty suspension, like half a season.
But somehow now, because the full tape was heard second, and important context was added to Hill’s comments in the edited version, the general reaction seems to be that his behavior “wasn’t so bad”. Espinal, who didn’t come off very well at all, even in the first version, sounds far worse in the second. Clearly trying to manipulate the situation, and basically entrap Hill, who not knowing that he is being recorded, tries to refute her attempts.
Much has been made of Hill’s references to the 2014 case in which he plead guilty to abusing Espinal, basically saying it didn’t happen. But he never answers her repeated questions about where the bruises came from, merely turning her question into one of his own. His denial has publicly almost been flouted as proof of innocence by many, trying to send us down the road where what occurred recently, however you judge it, should not be seen as a second offense by the league.
This groundswell has caused me to try and gain some context. The most telling comments I have heard came in an interview with Denver Post reporter Kyle Frederickson who covered every day of the 2014 trial when he was with The Oklahoman. He described the facial bruising as not hideous, but clearly apparent, and when asked at the conclusion of the interview directly whether there was anything he saw during the case that would lead him to believe that Hill was innocent, he just flatly stated “no”.
That is in the past, and the NFL allowed Hill to come into the league without suspension. But that incident, and the guilty plea, should be taken into account as the league judges this. I am sure that I am shouting in a deserted forest at this time. The general consensus, accompanied in many circles with near glee, is that Hill will stay with the Chiefs, serve a shortish suspension, and we will all go our merry way.
The things that have more recently been revealed DO put Hill in a better light, but it’s more like replacing no light bulb with a twenty watter. And what again and again seems forgotten as Chiefs fans get ready to welcome Hill back to the fold, is that this story is not over. Hill may not want custody of his children, but who knows where they will end up. Espinal doesn’t seem a great option either. But no matter what, those children will be part of their lives. They will have to have interaction with them, and each other. The children someday will hear the tape of how their Dad didn’t want them.
It’s all a mess, messy “facts” that left us all into speculation and statements that we would like to have back. Messy reactions on both sides of the issue, with hordes of fans embarrassingly tripping over themselves to find some “good news” so that they could justify their wish that their electric receiver would stay with the hometown squad and continue to score touchdowns, while others took leaps into areas outside of their bounds in trying to make their case against Hill’s NFL future.
I am traveling today, and when I got on the Parking Spot bus, the other passenger was a man wearing a Chiefs golf shirt. He was headed out of town and he clearly is proud of his team, and by extension, his city. That is what I think about when I am giving opinions on whether a player should be on the team. Fans don’t root for the Chiefs merely because they are a good football team, they root for them because they represent their town. That man wanted people to come up and say “How about that Patrick Mahomes???”
For the sake of having another great weapon that Mahomes likely could operate without, even on a basic football level, the Chiefs now put their fans in the, to me, squeamish, position of having to root him on, and perhaps come to his defense when other fans question employing him. But in my mind it is sad that so many fans don’t seem squeamish at all about it, and the Chiefs themselves seem well aware that they have the ultimate eyewash in Mahomes.
They know that far more people will think of a laughing Pat on Jimmy Kimmel, than if Tyreek Hill belongs on the football field. Mahomes is everything that you want in the position of face of the team. I don’t expect every player to live up to that standard, but I would like to at least see a standard, and I’ll be damned if I can see one right now.
It wouldn’t be so bothersome as well if the Chiefs, and basically every other team, didn’t beat us over the head about “character”. It would be almost perversely refreshing if a G.M. would step up to the podium and say “We are going to find the best 53 players regardless, and hope we can keep them out of jail and eligible to play”.
The next chapter is about to be written and it likely will be a short suspension and on we go. And maybe that will be the final chapter besides pure football for Tyreek Hill. And yet again, we will only be able to hope so.