Kansas City Chiefs receiver Tyreek Hill has been a model citizen since joining the team. The Seahawks Frank Clark shows that it could be much different.
One of the biggest concerns for Kansas City Chiefs fans when the team drafted Tyreek Hill was that he was every bit the individual that struck his pregnant wife. There was fear that he was simply a bad person that strangled the mother of his child. There was concern that he would be completely without remorse regarding the whole situation. So far, those concerns are allayed.
One thing you have to admit about Tyreek Hill is that he has been a model citizen since coming to KC. He has been friendly with fans, forthcoming about his past to the media, and involved in the community. He’s also been very good at football.
That last line isn’t a dig at the subculture of professional athletic competition that allows people with marketable talents to get away with more than the average person. No, it’s actually a commendation of the fact that Hill hasn’t let his early success and fame change his approach. The same can’t be said for Seahawks pass rusher Frank Clark.
writing about domestic violence is fun and risk free pic.twitter.com/XGqCQ6RvNQ
— Natalie Weiner (@natalieweiner) May 10, 2017
Seemingly out of nowhere, Frank Clark chose to lash out at Natalie Weiner of Bleacher Report on Twitter yesterday. The reason? A two year old article written by Weiner on the Seahawks fan blog “Field Gulls” in which she talked about the team’s decision to draft Frank Clark who had been arrested for domestic violence in college.
Clark has since removed that tweet, and issued something that could be construed as an apology…if you use the term in the absolute loosest of fashions…and really want to believe Frank Clark. He then deleted that tweet and tried again…
Different But Similar
Frank Clark was ultimately not charged by prosecutors for domestic violence. He received much lesser charges after completing counseling. That’s different than Tyreek Hill, who plead guilty in his case and has lived with that public stigma around his neck.
Both men committed similar transgressions, each worthy of condemnation. However, there are subtle differences that make these events very different in their aftermath. As I stated, Clark essentially got off for his actions. He was charged for a lesser offense and was selected in the second round of the 2015 NFL Draft.
Tyreek Hill, on the other hand, was charged and plead guilty. He was dismissed from Oklahoma, but ineligible for the draft that year. He would eventually be taken by the Kansas City Chiefs in the fifth round of the 2016 NFL Draft.
Since then, Tyreek Hill has been everything the Chiefs wanted. A good citizen, interactive with his fans, open with the media, and effective on the field. Frank Clark apparently has a job cleaning his fish tank available for any female sports writer that would comment on his past.
It Is A Tough Situation
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Do not feel compelled to change your mind about Tyreek Hill because of anything I wrote here. If you want to cheer against him because of his past, that is your prerogative. If you believe he is a bad person because of that incident, so be it. I actually commend you for standing by your moral beliefs.
However, when wondering how to feel about the success of Hill in the NFL, I do hope that you would take all of this into account. We always see people referencing quotes about getting up after being knocked down. That’s true of the blows that you are responsible for as well. Tyreek Hill has taken responsibility for the blow that knocked him down…and he’s getting up.
Above all else, we should realize that he isn’t going down a dark path (as far as we know). He isn’t taking the examples set by Frank Clark or Greg Hardy. He has owned his mistakes, and will own them forever, and is trying to move forward.
Personally, I will always remember what he did…but I will also recognize that he is trying to be a better person. Does that outweigh his actions in the past? No, not yet. However, it is commendable.
The Kansas City Chiefs took a risk in drafting Tyreek Hill in 2015. It was very possible that he was every bit the individual that choked the mother of his child. At the very least, the team had to know there would be backlash. However, it appears so far that Hill is not that person many feared he was. Hopefully that continues.