The Kansas City Chiefs on Friday announced that the team released their running back Kareem Hunt, after a video surfaced online showing Hunt shoving and kicking a woman in a hotel in Cleveland in February.
"Earlier this year, we were made aware of an incident involving running back Kareem Hunt. At that time, the National Football League and law enforcement initiated investigations into the issue. As part of our internal discussions with Kareem, several members of our management team spoke directly to him. Kareem was not truthful in those discussions. The video released today confirms that fact. We are releasing Kareem immediately," said the Chiefs in a statement.
Hunt himself also apologized for his action that he "deeply regret(s)" and said that he hopes to move on.
Kareem Hunt is a key player of the Kansas City Chiefs which currently has the best record in the NFL with nine wins and two losses. /VCG Photo
When the video first surfaced, the NFL put Hunt on the commissioner's exempt list, disqualifying him from being able to play games, attend training, or receive a portion of his salary. About an hour later, the Chiefs released him.
The video was published by tabloid news website TMZ. In the video, Hunt was seen arguing with a woman in a hotel hallway before he pushed her. The women responded by hitting Hunt in the face. Though Hunt was escorted away by two men, he then came back and pushed a man who then knocked the women down on the ground before Hunt kicked her in the leg.
Police arrived at the scene, but they neither arrested anyone nor filed any charges. According to ESPN, the two sides had different stories over the incident. The woman said Hunt hit her because she refused to have sex with one of the men associated with Hunt. One of the men told the police that the woman was asked to leave Hunt's hotel room, and used racist language before leaving.
Ray Rice, former running back of the Baltimore Ravens, lost his job after a video surfaced of him hitting his fiancee. /VCG Photo
According to NFL rules, any league employee involved in domestic violence or sexual assault faces a six-game suspension without pay, and at least a one-year ban if another allegation surfaces.
The NFL's swift action in Hunt's case contrasts with the way the league has dealt with cases of domestic violence in the past.
In 2014, former Baltimore Ravens running back Ray Rice was arrested for allegedly hitting his fiancée Janay Palmer. The league at the beginning only suspended him for two games. Then in August, a video of Rice beating his fiancée and leaving her unconscious in an elevator was released on TMZ. After that, Rice was suspended by the league indefinitely and released by the Ravens.
Joe Mixon, running back of the Cincinnati Bengals who entered the NFL in the same year as Hunt did (2017), was seen in a video punching a woman named Amelia Molitor in a restaurant in 2014. The assault caused a facial fracture, requiring surgery. However, punishment for Mixon was just a one-season suspension (by the Oklahoma Sooners, his college team) and he fell to the second round of the draft, instead of the first.