Miami Dolphins wide receiver Tyreek Hill opened up about the shocking arrest that saw him handcuffed face down on the pavement prior to his team’s 2024 season opener against the Jacksonville Jaguars on Sunday. The incident involving Hill and the police has raised many questions, on both sides.
Hill, in an interview with Lester Holt of NBC Nightly News, explained that he feared being shot during a police confrontation that “went from 0 to 60”.
“If I wasn’t Tyreek Hill, Lord knows, I probably would have been, like, worst-case scenario, I would have been shot or would have been locked up” and “put behind bars, you know, for a simple speeding ticket,” Hill told NBC News.
“And that’s crazy that officers would take it, you know, to that level.”
The Miami-Dade Police Department released bodycam footage of the incident on Monday appearing to show officers escalating the situation after Hill’s initial defensive posture.
That footage suggests at least one of the officers didn’t know who Hill was.
“You know who that is, right?” an officer asks several minutes into the interaction. “One of the Dolphins’ star players.”
Police Say Tyreek Hill Was ‘Uncooperative’
Tyreek Hill, in multiple interviews, reiterates what the videos of the incident seem to concur, that police took the situation and amped things up to a degree it should never have reached.
“I feel like at the end of the day, if you roll up on somebody all hostile, knocking on their window and they already got their ID, you know what I’m saying, ready for you,” he told NBC Nightly News. “It’s not like I said, You’re not getting my ID, you’re not getting my ID.’”
“You know it was one of those situations where I was like, ‘Here you go, my ID sir.’ And I let back up my window. He said, ‘Let it down.’ I let it down. That’s when it went from zero to ten. Other officer came in, just pulled me out.”
That isn’t entirely accurate, however. The bodycam footage shows Hill repeatedly telling the officer, “Don’t knock on my window like that, man.”
Hill was pulled over for what was described as reckless driving and speeding and, according to a team statement, was never actually arrested but “briefly detained”. He was eventually cited for reckless driving and driving without a license.
In Florida, driving without a license is a second-degree misdemeanor that can fetch 60 days behind bars.
One of the officers involved in the arrest was placed on administrative leave pending an investigation.
“That should tell you everything you need to know,” Hill told the NFL Network.
The Miami-Dade Police Department has said they are conducting an internal investigation into the detainment of Tyreek Hill. A representative for the police union said Hill was at fault for not being “immediately” cooperative with officers.
RELATED: WATCH: Video Released Of Tyreek Hill Incident Ahead Of Sunday’s Game
Tyreek Wants To Be The Change
And it would be ill-advised to jump to any form of conclusions since there has been no video released of Hill, or the police officers’ actions, prior to his being handcuffed. Was there something before what has been seen thus far that ultimately led to the escalation in police action?
SLATER SCOOP: Tyreek Hill body-cam video from Miami-Dade Police. pic.twitter.com/aJvD4SamZk
— Andy Slater (@AndySlater) September 9, 2024
It didn’t take long for Tyreek Hill to run to the media and reference protests and kneeling in his explanation that he’d like to be a wind of “change” in the world following the police altercation.
“When I say, ‘Let’s make a change,’ let’s do it together. So, Miami PD, really all officers across the world, one officer doesn’t make the whole group look bad,” he said in an interview with CNN. “Everybody has bad apples. Every team has bad apples. It’s my job to use my platform and my resources so that way I’m able to align with these different stations.”
“We done tried it all. We done protest, we even took a knee, we done did walks. So what’s next? Me and my wife are brainstorming on how we can be a part of this change. It’s important to us. We want to be able to change lives all across the world – not just Miami.”
That said, with what has been put out there thus far, the officers have brought unwanted attention through their own actions.
Hill said he’s just happy it didn’t get even worse.
“That officer was really on a power trip,” he said. “He felt like he just needed to … do something that day, you know. But like I said, I’m glad nobody was hurt.”
Hill, following the altercation with police, was released in time to play in the game, where he made significant contributions to his team after telling officers he was suffering from “injuries”.
He had 7 catches for 130 yards. Among those catches was an 80-yard touchdown reception that helped propel a Miami Dolphins rally after they trailed 17-7 at the half to the Jaguars.
The Dolphins would go on to win the game 20-17 thanks in large part to that momentum-swinging spectacular play.
Hill, who has never shied away from controversy, celebrated with a gesture showing his hands mockingly cuffed behind his back while a teammate detained him.
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