Besides a lot of them are, plain and simple, thugs. Case in point, in December of 2014, Oklahoma State dismissed junior wide receiver Tyreek Hill from the team after he was arrested and accused of punching and choking his pregnant girlfriend.
The school issued a statement to announce that Hill was no longer on the team, stating that the university does not tolerate domestic abuse or violence. The statement went on to say that based on the evidence and the serious allegations that were made, Head Football Coach Mike Gundy had not only dismissed Hill from the football team, but he was also kicked off the track team.
The allegations were investigated by the Stillwater (Oklahoma) Police and by the OSU Office of Student Conduct. According to a report from the Stillwater PD, a woman said she and Hill had an argument that escalated into physical violence.
The woman said she was eight weeks pregnant with Hill's child and was concerned about the fetus because she was in pain after he punched her in the stomach. She said she also was punched in the face, had a busted lip and was choked by Hill.
At the time Hill, a 20-year-old junior from Pearson, Georgia, was arrested and allegedly told officers he was being arrested "for being black and she was white." Hill spent the night in jail and was charged with domestic assault and battery by strangulation. He did not enter a plea and his bond was set at $15,000.
The woman claimed Hill had a volatile temper and that he thought it was OK to punch and shake her. She also claimed he had been physical with her before, but it had been mostly manhandling and had never been that bad. Why she continued to keep his company is hard to say, but that's often what battered women do.
The court gave Hill a break. He entered a guilty plea in August 2015, but it was dismissed after he completed his probation requirements and the court also ordered the case expunged. He had been sentenced to three years probation and ordered to complete an anger management course and batterer’s intervention program.
In the fall of 2015, he enrolled at West Alabama University, where he completed his degree. In 2016, Hill was drafted by the Kansas City Chiefs and it caused some controversy, but the Chiefs rightly defended their decision, saying they believed Hill had learned his lesson. Everyone deserves a second chance.
Apparently Hill has kept his nose clean, but today the Boston Patriots are taking action against a fan who splashed beer on Hill late in New England's 43-40 win by banning the person from all future games at the stadium and, also, turned the matter over to the local police. The Patriots are to be given an “atta boy” for their actions because throwing beer at people is childish and wrong. Multiple Patriot fans also exhibited unsportsmanlike behavior when they flashed Hill the middle finger during the incident, but there's no penalty for them. Besides, they could never be identified and no harm was done.
After the game, when asked about the post-play incident with the fan, Hill took the high road saying the coach told him not to get emotional because it comes with the territory, adding that he was not mad at all.
Now, Hill has changed his mind. Apparently he isn't satisfied with just the banning of the fan, a 21-year old, who threw beer on him and letting the court system determine if further action should be taken.
Hill and his agent want to take legal action against fan and are talking to the NFL/NFLPA about options. Hill's agent said that type of behavior is unacceptable and the players have to be protected. He added, “We want that fan to be prosecuted.” Hill says it's about player safety; next time it might be something worse than beer that gets thrown at a player.
Apparently Hill has forgotten about the time when he was 20-years old and choked and punched his pregnant girlfriend in the stomach and face and busted her lip, but was shown mercy. Now he wants a pound of flesh over getting splashed with beer.
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