It was just 5 days ago that I was posting about the absolute ridiculousness that was the incident that was Reuban Foster. This man decided for the second time in a year (that we know about), that it was ok to beat women. When I posted last week, I was cheering for the swift decision by the 49ers to kick his ass tot he curb and send a statement to the rest of the league that abuse is NOT ok.
At the time I was so proud of the 49ers for releasing Foster. It was the right move and a clear message that this behaviour was not going to be tolerated by an NFL team. It didn't take long for me to feel disappointment yet again with the decisions of an NFL team. Just a day after the 49ers made the right decision and sent Foster packing for his indiscretions, the Washington Redskins sent the exact opposite message to the sports world. Just a day after being cut by the 49ers, Foster was claimed off waivers by the Washington Redskins. WTF??
Well, it didn't take long for the next big story to come out of the NFL and this time it is a huge deal. In a video released by TMZ yesterday, Kansas City star RB, Kareem Hunt, was shown getting into a physical altercation with a woman at a hotel. Hunt was seen shoving and kicking the woman during the incident. In some ways, it reminded me of the Ray Rice video from a few years ago where he was caught punching a knocking his girlfriend out. Although the Hunt video is not quite at the same level as the Rice video, it is still incredibly disturbing to watch.
As you can see in the video, Hunt initiates the physical contact with the woman by shoving her. Even after his entourage tried to get him back into the room, he rushed at the girl and caused her to go flying into a wall. If that wasn't enough, he walked over to her as she sat on the floor disoriented and kicked her. I just don't get it!! WTF? How is it that these things continue to happen? What is it that makes these guys think that it is in any way acceptable to physically assault a woman? Is there nothing inside their head that says "Stop, this is a bad situation and I need to get out of here now"? I honestly believe that many of these players who are getting into trouble like this truly believe that they are above the law. If I can do great things on the field then I can do whatever I want?
What angers me about this whole thing is that this happened back in February. Both the Kansas City Chiefs and the NFL were aware of the incident and nothing was done. Kareem Hunt told his version of the events and the team and league took him at his word and moved on as if nothing had happened. How is this even possible? Given the current climate in the NFL with regards to domestic abuse and the number of black eyes the league has taken in recent years, why wouldn't the team or the NFL investigate the story? I can only imagine that at the time, this video was not available. I am absolutely shocked that there was no effort made to corroborate Hunt's story and to get some concrete evidence of what really happened. Inspector Gadget could have done a better job of getting to the bottom of this case!
In light of the video being released yesterday, both the Kansas City Chiefs and the NFL are saving face and have acted swiftly to send the message that this incident will not be tolerated. Within minutes of the video being released, Hunt was sent home from practice and a few hours after that he had been placed on the NFL exempt list and released by the Chiefs. I applaud the quick and decisive moves here but it is way too late! The ball was dropped on this BIG TIME!!!! There is no way that Hunt should have been able to start the NFL season. Given the situation that the league just went through with Ezekiel Elliott, it just blows my mind that they would not look deeper into claims that Kareem Hunt had physically assaulted a woman. The fallout from this is a huge embarrassment for the NFL and the Chiefs. The league might need to introduce some new signals for the refs.
It will be interesting to see how Hunt's career continues at this point. It would be naive to think that he would be banned. This is a slap on the wrist kind of league for first-time offenders. The list of abusers who are still playing is a lengthy one. What has me curious is when and with who he will sign a new contract. We are talking about one of the premier running backs in the NFL who led the league in rushing last year as a rookie and was on his way to another great season. How long is long enough before a team has the appetite to sign a tarnished player. I sincerely hope that there are no teams that are considering claiming him off waivers. It would be a stupid move given the severity of the incident but who knows? The Redskins were willing to risk their reputation just last week to claim a far lesser player after being waved for abuse.
The one thing that I can be happy about in this situation is that the Kansas City Chiefs will suffer the consequences of letting this go, on the field. They are in the midst of an amazing run this season and Kareem Hunt has played a large role in that. There has been lots of Super Bowl talk about the team. Hopefully, this will send them in a downward spiral that sees them flop in the playoffs. Not likely but a Bronco fan can only hope.
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