Tyreek Hill wants the Officer “Gone”: Complete Transcript
(Opening statement) – “Before we get started, I just want to say this is a very important day in history so just want to say to the fallen soldiers, to everybody who was a part of 9/11 – my prayers are with you and your family always, to the police officers, to the firefighters across the world. We thank you.”
(I asked Head Coach Mike McDaniel at the owners meetings whether he had talked to you about some of your off-field incidents. He said “Yes, Tyreek has been very transparent. We’ve had clear communication.” And I asked him today about that and he said, “Tyreek has grown in a lot of ways since he’s been here.” In what ways do you think that you’ve grown since you’ve been here?) – “He’s right about that. I’ll tell you what, man. I was talking to my mom and my wife last night. I told them, what I went through the other day has happened at the right time in my life because of the way I’ve matured, the way I’ve been handling myself with my kids, stepping up as a father, just all of that. So the older I’ve been getting, the more I’ve been realizing how important it is for me to just be a pro’s pro. Obviously when you first come into the league, you just want to have fun, do whatever you want to do. I’ve done all that. I now see how important it is to be a father, be a husband, be a son and just be a family man that my grandparents raised me to be. So that’s the maturity he’s talking about, so when my teammates see me now, I’m with my wife, I’m with my kids; I’m enjoying life, man. I’m slowing my life down. I’m not doing the crazy things that I used to do when I first came into the league. I’m handling myself with a lot of dignity now and a lot of respect and I’m representing my last name well.”
(And a follow-up to that – do you think you did anything wrong in this situation? Do you think that your attitude could have been different to the police? Do you think you could’ve kept your window down? Have you thought about that?) – “Yeah, I have. I have. My whole life is all about accountability. Like how can I get better? So right now, I have family members who are cops. We’ve had conversations. Yes, I will say I could’ve been better. I could’ve let down my window in that instant, but the thing about me is I don’t want attention. I don’t want to be cameras out, phones on you in that moment. But at the end of the day I’m human. I’ve got to follow rules, I’ve got to do what everyone else would do. Now, does that give them the right to literally beat the dog out of me? Absolutely not. But at the end of the day, I wish I could go back and do things a bit differently.”
(When I spoke with Head Coach Mike McDaniel, he said that when he first saw the video, he wasn’t shocked by it; in fact, it saddened him. When you first saw the video, what were the emotions that came over you?) – “I’m unfazed. I’m unfazed. I’m one of those guys I’m unfazed by it because I’m not the only one that goes through that, and where I’m from, you typically see that a lot and you don’t hear about it because not everybody has the same resources as Tyreek Hill. Not everybody has the name Tyreek Hill or not able to call a Drew Brooks or Drew Rosenhaus or something like that. So I’m really unfazed to it, you feel me? That’s why I was able to go out and play the way I did because I’m numb to it. It’s kind of expected.”
(Just to follow up, you said that you would’ve handled yourself a little bit differently. For other people out there seeing that video, is there a message you may have for them about how to handle themselves in a similar situation?) – “I don’t have a message for them yet, but I’m sure I will. So ask me that question again next week sometime. I’m pretty sure I will, because right now I’m in the process of putting together a good plan so that way I can work with those guys. Because I think it’s good, man, I think we should lean on each other. Like we have influence on the community and I don’t think that we should use this as a moment to separate people or divide people or make it a battle or anything like that, because I still love cops. I want to be a cop. I’ve been standing on the table for the cops, but at the end of the day right now what I’m focused on is my job and that’s to play football. And that’s all that I can be – the best football player I can be.”
(How are you yourself handling the situation? Obviously it’s a lot of trauma so are you OK?) – “Yeah, I’m good. Like I said I’m really unfazed to it all. I’ve been praying a lot with my wife, having conversations with my mom a lot, talking to my kids a lot because at the end of the day, those are the most important people in my life. Those are the people that are in my circle and I could care less about whatever somebody else has to say about me or the situation or whatever goes on. I think the biggest thing for me is just making sure that I’m all right and my family has been doing a great job of that because they ask me literally every five seconds, ‘Are you all right? Are you all right? Are you all right?’ I’m like, ‘I’m good, I’m good.’ Like I went to the grocery store last night. My wife called me literally like, 10 times. It’s crazy. I’m good.”
(Obviously you’re used to living your life in the spotlight, but having a vulnerable moment like that when you saw the body cam footage come out. You say you’re good, but what was that experience like to have again, that vulnerable of a moment broadcast to the world?) – “I was actually watching ‘Beetlejuice’ at the time. I was in the movie theater when it released. Drew Brooks called me. He was like, ‘you know they released the body cam?’ I’m like, ‘What? I’m watching ‘Beetlejuice’ – I’ve got to leave?’ He’s like, ‘Yeah, go outside real quick.’ So I went outside, watched it and for me I feel like I handled myself well in that situation, but obviously like I said I could be better. But it’s shell-shocking. It’s really crazy to know that you have officers in this world that will literally do that with body cams on. It’s sad. It’s really sad. Which brings up another conversation and leads into what would they do if they didn’t have body cams? Which is even crazier so it’s a lot to unpack. It’s a lot to unpack. It’s a lot we can learn. Like I think in football, how we get better from things is we watch the tape and we get better from it, and this instance, we should do the same. Like a lot of people want to critique. A lot of people want to criticize, a lot of people want to do this. But I think this can be a learning tool for everybody. Everybody. Civilians, officers around the world, like how to do conduct whenever they pull people over. Like we all can learn. We’re in this thing together. We live in this thing – we’re on earth together – so the only way we get better is A – we hold ourselves accountable and we get better from it. That’s how I get better in football.”
(Has it been tough this week to kind of separate the incident and what you have ahead of you on Thursday night?) – “Not for real because like I said, I’m not going to mix the two. I’m not going to take a knee. I’m not going to ask to defund the police. I’m not going to protest. I’m not going to do any of that when it comes to being inside of this football, because this is my therapy. Football is my therapy – this is how I get away from a lot of stuff. This is how I separate myself from past traumas in my life. So no, I’m not going to mix the two.
(In the video you said that you had knee surgery – Head Coach Mike McDaniel said you had a minor operation. What did you have done and when did it happen?) – “So I did have a minor procedure done in Antigua – just some stem cells injected into my body, that’s it. A lot of people don’t know that because I just be on the low with it, but yeah.
(To me, in situations like this – and I know you said you want to see some change and some good come out of this, and I know that you just said you could have handled yourself differently. To me, you need to see some apologies and compromise from both sides. Do you think we will eventually see that, or do you think this is going to be a political, divisive thing for the next few weeks or months, what do you think?) – “When you say apology, who do you mean? From who?”
(Both sides – I mean I think both sides need to kind of say, ‘I could have handled myself better,’ I know you just said that.) – “They already tried, but we declined. It’s up to everybody else’s judgement to have their own opinion about how they feel about the video.”
(Are you optimistic that we will hear that from the other side? Do you think that kind of change – are we moving in this direction on this matter do you think?) – “I don’t know, man. It’s tough to say because it’s so hard. You never know. You never know in situations like this, but my whole goal and my whole thing around this whole thing is to not go backwards. I don’t want us to go backwards, I want us to be able to move forward in this moment. I had so many people like, ‘Oh, let’s rally,’ and I’m like, ‘No, let’s chill. Let’s relax. Let’s put our minds together and let’s think. Let’s think of better ways we can get better. Let’s not do that, bruh. We’re smarter than that.’”
(How would you describe some of the physical actions that occurred against you? Some of them might not be clear on camera, some might not have even been on camera – what are some things you can tell us happened?) – “I don’t know, it was crazy bruh. I thought I was in a movie, that’s why I really couldn’t get turned up for real. I’m like, ‘Damn, is this really happening?’ But man, I don’t know – choked, pinched, kicked, all that man. But you know what? Like I said, man – what I said Sunday, I’m just glad to be here so I can tell the story with y’all because this is truly shocking to me. It’s embarrassing because I got kids and when I facetimed my kids, they’re like, ‘Dad, are you all right? Are you all right?’ And I’m like, ‘Your dad’s all right, man.’ But it’s good though, my kids get to see me in a different light. I get to like come up with my own ideas and own plan to help change the narrative of who we are, or who I am anyways. So I think it’s good. My kids get to see me in a different light instead of playing football; they get to see me as like a hero in this aspect now. So it’s a win-win, man.”
(Your lawyer has come out and said that he’s looking for the dismissal of the officer, do you – what does that mean?) – “Gone.”
(So you want the officer –) – “Gone. Gone. Gone. Gone. He got to go, man. Because in that instance right there, not only did he treat me bad, he also treated my teammates with disrespect. He had some crazy words toward them, and they ain’t even do nothing. Like what did they do to you? They’re just walking on the sidewalk. So I don’t know, he got to go. There’s not too many times that Cheetah say people got to go, but – you, out. What do they say on Wild ‘N Out? Gone.”
