NFL star in handcuffs on game day raises dark questions

ABC listen podcasts radio news music and more get out what point of you hey Drew hey Drew I'm getting arrested Drew I'm getting arrested I'm getting arrested Drew I'm getting out bro God damn TW when we tell you to do something you do it you understand that's the sound of Miami Police detaining star NFL player Tyreek Hill outside his team Miami Stadium on game day sounds pretty aggressive right this is a story that has shocked American sports fans a new instance of law enforcement controversy that's raised some old questions I'm Patrick stack this is ABC Sport Daily Ken bson covers the NFL for the New York Times Ken could you maybe start by telling our audience who is Tyreek Hill Tyreek Hill is of the most accomplished wide receivers in the NFL it certainly is first down at 15 following the penalty Tua swings it out uh-oh speaking of fast how about Tyreek hill hill inside the 20 and then finally chase down wow he's 30 years old now and he I believe was the fastest NFL player for several years he may still be he's rather short but he's very strong player so he can be a speedy Runner down the side of the field and he can catch passes in the middle of the the field and he starred originally for the Kansas City Chiefs and then moved to the Miami Dolphins uh last year uh and he's continued his success there a lot of people thought that he wouldn't succeed without a quarterback in Kansas City uh in the name of Patrick Mahomes but he's he's continued his um pretty good record there as well in Florida so as you say incredibly accomplished on field what's his reputation as a person very problematic he was uh charged in a an assault case in college and then in 2019 when he was in Kansas City he was not charged but police were investigating allegations that he abused his three-year-old son as I said the police felt they didn't have enough evidence to charge him at the time but it was certainly disturbing so he's had a bit of a mixed uh reputation for off field Behavior but you know in the NFL he's not alone in that unfortunately so yeah he's a bit problematic he's had some troubles off the field but he's certainly been an All-Star on the field so that's the background context let's get into what's happened this way Tyreek Hills driving to the Dolphins first game of the season in Miami where they were taking on the Jacksonville Jaguars what happened next uh he was pulled over about 10:15 in the morning this game in Miami Gardens just north of Miami uh starts at 1:00 so he actually was probably running a little late because most players get in three plus hours before a match he was pulled over by the police uh they said he was feeding they asked him to pull down his window he did he gave him his driver's license and then he rolled up the window again it's maybe worth noting that it was a McLaren a very expensive race car while he was driving 50 and 55 M hour in a 40 m Zone uh that caught their attention and then the police several times asked them to roll the window back down and keep it down keep it down hey keep the window down and So eventually they asked him to get out of the car they handcuffed him and basically put him on the ground keep your window down tell me what keep your window down I'm going to get you out of the car as a matter of fact get out of the car give me get out of the car give me we'll break that freaking window get out of the car get out of the car right now in the interim before he was handcuffed had called the dolphin security officer to let him know in his words that he was getting arrested he wasn't getting arrested but it was a traffic stop a teammate of his Kay Campbell was driving past and pulled over and tried to deescalate the situation and he was put in handcuffs as well and a third player also driving to the facility or to the stadium stopped and was told he was going to get a ticket if he got out of the car there were other witnesses there at that time when the police ran Tyreek Hills uh driver's license through their computers they figured out that he was a Dolphins player and uh immediately realized uh what was happening uh and so he was let go and actually he shook hands with the police before he uh drove off so according to our story he he told the police I'll see you in court so it's unclear whether he or his agent or any of his lawyers will file a complained against the police but the officer who was the one who threw uh Tyreek to the ground has been put on administrative leave which basically means a desk job until they sort out what happened it was pretty confronting watching the body cam vision of the incident and the why it all sort of went down I just had surgery on my knee I just had surgery on my knee bro I just had surgery on my KNE how would you describe the conduct of some of the law enforcement during the incident I think there's a little blame both sides I I know people have chosen sides you know look and I've been pulled over you have to realize the power Dynamic you're in and I certainly recognize it's different for people of color than a than a white person but you know if you're answering questions clearly and trying to understand the the dynamic of the situation generally you try not to be flippant Tyreek Hill was quoted as saying just give me the ticket already and right me a ticket for for catching me speeding right now right now that way he caught me speeding right now I think that's considered a little bit a little bit edgy maybe and I think the police in general expect a little more respect at the same time it's a pretty drastic step to ask somebody to get out of a vehicle because they refuse to keep their window down and then put them in handcuffs and then put them on the on the street on the pavement but it does seem like their reaction was very uh Swift and perhaps excessive for essentially a speeding ticket remarkably he had to go and play after going through that pretty stressful situation how did he cope on field and indeed off field after what took place that morning well on field he had a very good game actually seven receptions 130 yards and a touchdown The End Zone 20 it goes back first and 10 to a t by L arms dead the block and he's going deep he's caught Hill foot race driving 3 is six oh he's a ghost so it didn't affect his play uh the touchdown he scored led to a um Celebration In The End Zone the players do all sorts of variations in his case uh he put his hands behind his back as if he was getting handcuffed by a teammate in some ways he was almost mocking the police uh on the field J do was like hey Rick you get in that end zone Today Show your tail show your tail and I'll do the rest you feel me so it was a plan celebration um obviously we had something else then all this happened this morning so hey like they say man free my dog re uh some people would potentially see that as um in bad taste others would say he was pushing back at the police and the way they treated him and afterwards was asked about it as was Kay Campbell and others I see Tyreek you know in handcuffs I seen you know for like was assess of force so didn't not get out the car kind of just trying to deescalate the situation and I think the officer you know uh just you know I don't know why he felt the need to put me in handcuffs but you know I it is what it is you know but for the purposes of the three-hour game he did very well how have the teammates the coaches the NFL itself reacted to what's taking place here Ken first of all Tyreek Hill said look I I I recognize that this could have been actually a lot worse what if I wasn't Tyreek kill Lord knows like what that guy or guys would have did you feel me he was basically saying I was one of the lucky ones you know the implication was that other people who um are maybe more Anonymous and people of color would not have been treated that way so he was sort of saying that this is a problem with systemic problem for people of color in situations like this uh and so his teammates essentially uh said roughly the same things and the team actually put out a statement not everybody is sort of Tyreek Hill and is um told okay I'm sorry go on your way now you know it highlights a very sensitive issue it goes back and certainly in the NFL at least 10 years players of color have been bringing up this issue about what they see as excessive police brutality in some cases towards people of color Colin Kaepernick raised a National debate about this issue in 2016 when he kned on the sidelines during the playing of the national anthem there are a lot of things that are going on that are unjust people aren't being held accountable for and that's something that needs to change that's something that you know this country stands for Freedom Liberty Justice for All and it's not happening for all right now it's a bit of a third rail issue in American Sports as you can imagine and because adding this sort of very loaded political conversation and uh to a sporting event is always going to lead to people saying I don't want to hear it I I tune in to watch sports to get away from these kinds of issues players are very mindful of that and so I think the majority of players that have sounded whove written on social media have come to Tyreek defense would you anticipate that we're going to have repercussions for the Poli involved that I don't know the police benevolent Association which is essentially a form of their Union came to the defense of the officers uh and said that hill was disrespecting them in so many words and I don't know I can't predict I don't know enough about the police departments there it's certainly you know when you have this the video uh images that you saw and have been released certainly don't help the police uh I think in some cases because people see the person on the ground in handcuffs on a speeding ticket that does not seem like everyday behavior um on the other hand it's pretty tough to fire a police officer they're doing their jobs uh it's often a high stress situation I'm not sure this person will lose their job they may be reassigned working in an office or a Precinct uh and not uh on the streets for a period of time they may be suspended in that way I suspect this officer will not be fired for all of this it's embarrassing to say the least that it's an NFL player it puts a whole other Spotlight and I can tell you this from more than 10 years of reporting on the NFL when it happens to an NFL player employee staff coach whatever it is so much bigger in the National spotlight than any other Sport and frankly almost any other situation Kim bson thanks for breaking it all down for us appreciate your time sure absolutely Patrick headlines cab Bar's player Tom Craig has been handed a six-month ban after his drug related arrest at the Olympics the 29-year-old will not be allowed to play in hockey Australia sanctioned competitions if he fails to meet the conditions of his punishment Craig will face a further six-month suspension for more on that story go to abc.net.au sport have you ever had anything stolen from your car or how about this four Olympic medals belonging to Aussie rowing Legend drw in was stolen from his car in docklands last week he was actually going to give a school talk so he had them stashed away only for the car to be ransacked and the medals pinched police have asked for them to be returned the socceroos have put themselves in a dire World Cup qualification position after drawing near La with Indonesia in Bangkok the Australians took one point from their games with bar and Indonesia and sit fifth in their group behind Japan Saudi Arabia bahin and Indonesia only the top two teams will go in automatic qualification and Australia's made a Bright Start to its Davis Cup campaign beating France two rubbers to one it all came down to the doubles after the singles were split and Max perel and Matt ebden edged out the French pairing to secure the tie the Aussies next play the Czechs and then the Spanish in Valencia only the top two teams will progress to the knock out stage I'm Patrick stack this is ABC Sport Daily produced by poppy peny thanks to CBS Fox and the Miami day Police Department for the extra audio used in this episode discover more great ABC podcasts live radio and exclusives on the ABC listen app