No suspension.
The NFL concluded that they simply could not bring a player misconduct charge against Tyreek Hill, and in the little that I'd seen from fair-minded people it was overwhelming: Because they had nothing on him, there should be no penalty, none at all. I'd even heard that a police report concluded that Hill did nothing injurious to his son. Did he sound like a jerk in phone conversation with the boy's mother? Of course he did. But that isn't a crime. The NFL could have decided this was detrimental to the way they want NFL players to behave, I understand.
The NFL took the high road, however. A very nice kudos to them for once.
They did very justifiably express concern and want the utmost consideration for Tyreek's son. Here's the thing, no one isn't concerned about that. That's the main priority. On the other hand, yanking Tyreek's source of income for no reason other than to make a show of authority doesn't help the boy. The boy's welfare is best served if Tyreek and mother were healthy, preferably happily married, and the child services office could see that and the boy's life situation would be much better resolved. We should all keep praying for that.
The real problem, though, is all that prominent sports pundits will write and and sports commentators will say. And yes, there will simply be too many who will virtue signal out of their rear ends, you know, "Oh those Chiefs are evil and misogynist and -- have a history..." yeah, that's a real good one. Indeed one of the first news reports I saw was from supposedly objective CBS news, and the headline of the story was, "NFL Shockingly Decides Not to Suspend..."
Um, excuse me?
"Shockingly"???
That's the kind of opinionated barf that gets so many steamed at the mainline news organizations. I'm convinced much of this is because these people simply get very nervous when a podunk little Midwest non-large-market-media-darling team starts to get as good as the Chiefs are getting. Cuts into the big revenues they could get if it were a Cowboys or Giants or Patriots. Oh how much they'd love to have Patrick Mahomes on one of those teams.
Now with Hill ready to go full speed for the duration, it makes them more nervous.
I was also very touched by the response from Hill. He wrote a lengthy appreciation for all he has and all he's been given by the Chiefs and the NFL. Sure it could all be a snow-job, and further information could come forth that would justify some punitive action. But for now, it appears he's aware of the magnitude of things and wants to do right.
I'd also thought of this, however. Could the Chiefs think about trading him, if they do indeed see that someone like Mecole Hardman is going to be pretty danged good? I really hope they don't. Hardman is still very new and raw, and Hill is a proven contributor.
As it is it is tons of fun to see how deep we are at wide receiver. It is just as much fun to see how deep we are in areas like defensive backfield. I'm hearing all kinds of great things about the leadership and skill Tyrann Mathieu, for one, is bringing to the table, and how much everyone is excited about the more sophisticated approach to the defense Steve Spagnuolo has brought.
There is definitely much to be excited about this off-season, and while we always know there can be stupid in-season (or worse, post-season) things that can happen, right now this is definitely one of the funnest off-season times ever for Chiefs fans.
Seeing Tyreek Hill summarily exonerated today is certainly one of the best things of all.
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