In the latest move to prove the NFL is trash, the Cleveland Browns have signed Kareem Hunt, the running back who was released by the Kansas City Chiefs after a video showed him knocking over and kicking a woman.
According to the New York Daily News, Hunt was released by the Chiefs in November after video captured in February appeared to show Hunt in a Cleveland hotel hallway assaulting a woman. Even stranger, Hunt is still on the Commissioner’s exempt list, meaning he’s still not technically in the NFL. But that didn’t stop the Browns from signing the running back. “The league is still investigating the said video, as well as two other incidents in which Hunt allegedly punched a man at a resort and took part in a separate club altercation,” the Daily News reports.
“My relationship and interaction with Kareem since 2016 in college was an important part of this decision-making process but we then did extensive due diligence with many individuals, including clinical professionals, to have a better understanding of the person he is today and whether it was prudent to sign him,” Browns general manager John Dorsey in a statement. “There were two important factors: one is that Kareem took full responsibility for his egregious actions and showed true remorse and secondly, just as importantly, he is undergoing and is committed to necessary professional treatment and a plan that has been clearly laid out.”
“We fully understand and respect the complexity of questions and issues in signing a player with Kareem’s history and do not condone his actions. Given what we know about Kareem through our extensive research, we believe he deserves a second chance but certainly with the understanding that he has to go through critical and essential steps to become a performing member of this organization, aside from what the NFL determines from their ongoing investigation. We fully understand that Kareem is subject to discipline by the NFL. Here at the Browns, there is a detailed plan with expectations laid out that he understands and must follow, because any similar incident will not be tolerated. We will support Kareem through this process and utilize our resources, however permitted, to help him become successful on and off the field as long as he continues to show the commitment necessary to represent this organization.”
For the TL;DR crowd, the statement basically notes that Hunt is a talented running back, so talented that the Browns are willing to take on the PR nightmare in order to try and win more games. Also, the NFL doesn’t care about women.
And Hunt is talented. In 27 games, he’s rushed for 2,151 yards and 15 touchdowns. During his rookie season, he led the NFL with 1,327 rushing yards and was a Pro Bowl selection.
“First off, I would like to once again apologize for my actions last year. What I did was wrong and inexcusable,” Hunt said in a statement. “That is not the man I was raised to be, and I’ve learned a great deal from that experience and certainly should have been more truthful about it after the fact. I’m extremely grateful that John Dorsey, Dee and Jimmy Haslam and the Cleveland Browns organization are granting me the opportunity to earn their trust and represent their organization in the best way possible on and off the field. I am committed to following the necessary steps to learn and to be a better and healthier person from this situation. I also understand the expectations that the Browns have clearly laid out and that I have to earn my way back to the NFL. I’m a work in progress as a person, but I’m committed to taking advantage of the support systems that I have in place to become the best and healthier version of myself.”
Also for the TL;DR crowd: Hunt thanks God that he’s able to outrun his problems and is thankful that he’s only accused of beating a woman because imagine how fucked his life would be had he taken a knee during the national anthem.