Tyreek Hill’s job with the Kansas City Chiefs appears to be safe, at least for now.
As you already know, the Pro Bowl receiver was being investigated over multiple allegations of child abuse at his Kansas home. Family court just recently deemed that Hill’s child is not safe in said environment and temporarily removed custody.
On Wednesday, things took a turn for the better for Hill. Officials announced that he will not faces charges stemming from the abuse allegations.
The interesting dynamic here is that the district attorney does believe a crime was committed, but is unable to prove it.
This adds yet another layer to the Hill saga. It also raises questions about his future with both the Chiefs and in the NFL. Here’s a timeline of Hill’s on-field exploits and off-field issues dating back to college.
The college years: Hill entered the NFL with a bunch of red flags.
- Oklahoma State dismissed Hill days after a domestic violence arrest back in December of 2014. The incident involved the current mother of Hill’s child.
- The police report in Oklahoma alleged that Hill “threw her around like a ragdoll, punched her in the face, sat on her and repeatedly punched her in the stomach, and choked her.” She was pregnant with the child in question at the time.
- Hill ultimately pleaded guilty to domestic assault and battery by strangulation and was sentenced to three years of probation.
The small-school years: Hill ended up signing on with West Alabama.
- His presence at the small school enabled Hill to find himself on the radar of multiple teams leading up to the 2016 NFL Draft.
- Though, multiple squads had already taken Hill off their draft boards following his arrest years prior.
- Surprisingly, the Chiefs exhausted a fifth-round pick on the troubled receiver. It’s a selection that was met with a ton of criticism.
Domination on the gridiron: Hill’s talent was never in question.
- Hill has earned a Pro Bowl nod in each of his first two NFL seasons. That span has also seen the game’s most electric receiver earn two All-Pro nods.
- Back in 2016, Hill gained 860 total yards while catching north of 73 percent of his targets from then-quarterback Alex Smith.
- Hill’s presence on Kansas City’s offense took on a whole new meaning during his sophomore season when the smallish receiver went for 1,240 total yards.
- Though, this past season was by far Hill’s best. He caught 87 passes for 1,479 yards while hauling in 64 percent of his targets. Hill also led the NFL with an average of 15.0 yards per touch.
The allegations: As severe as they might be…
- Hill will not be charged with child abuse. Though, there’s obviously a major caveat here. What that means for Hill’s future in Kansas City remains to be seen (we’ll touch on that below).
- What we do know is that authorities did not find enough evidence to charge Hill with a crime.
- In no way does this mean the NFL is through investigating the matter. As we saw with Ezekiel Elliott, a lack of charges doesn’t mean a lack of discipline from the league.
Hill’s NFL future: It seems up in the air right now.
- Kansas City has sent mixed messages as it relates to off-field incidents in the recent past.
- The team released Pro Bowl running back Kareem Hunt last season after a video surfaced of him kicking a woman in a hotel lobby.
- Mere months later, the Chiefs traded for troubled Seahawks pass rusher Frank Clark who had a domestic incident that led to his dismissal from Michigan back in 2014.
- There’s really no telling what the Chiefs might do here. But Wednesday’s developments lead us to believe Hill will be on the 53-man roster come Week 1.
Wednesday’s news is not the end of this story. As much as Hill and his Chiefs want it to be, things are still developing.
We’re highly intrigued to see what the next step might be by the NFL. As we’ve seen in the past, the league has its own legal standards.