On Wednesday, for the first time in five years, Kansas City Chiefs Running Back Kareem Hunt spoke to the media about his past and future. In being as candid as possible, it seemed the kid who left Kansas City in 2018 and returned in 2024 was a man who had matured in every aspect of his life.
I’m all in for second chances, and I firmly believe in the NFL; you never say never because so much is at stake for teams to get a competitive advantage. If the Kansas City Chiefs position themselves to have a legitimate chance to Three-Peat, adding Kareem Hunt tells me the juice is worth the squeeze.
When he left the Chiefs in the middle of the 2018 NFL season, Hunt was out of control. Though he was the game’s best running back on the field, he was the worst human being off the field.
When the franchise called out his actions and lack of organizational transparency, Hunt suddenly left. That day began an odyssey that would find him digging deep into his soul to become a better person.
As he spoke on Wednesday, he centered on three areas addressing his past in Kansas City.
He talked about the entourage around him that didn’t have his best interest in mind, how young he was to have so much early success in his NFL career, and that he needed time to get things right inside to become a man.
Generally, when you do something as wrong as he did, that’s a career-ending moment. That could have been Hunt, but instead, he got help and changed his life. In 2019, he served an eight-game suspension. He went home to play for his childhood team, the Cleveland Browns, and through 2023, he stayed out of trouble.
On the field, the now 29-year-old was a steady performer for the Browns. However, a hernia injury required off-season surgery, so the Browns made no effort to re-sign their free agent.
After the injury to Isiah Pacheco, there were indications the Chiefs might be willing to give him a second chance, so he stayed in shape. Since he arrived on the practice field last week, he ran with the scout team and has picked up the Chiefs’ new offense in short order.
Head Coach Andy Reid has already indicated he will get snaps against the Los Angeles Chargers on Sunday. It’ll be interesting to see what he still has left in the tank and if he can return to two-thirds of the player he was in Kansas City five years ago.
Now he gets to do something he’s longed to do again: put on his red jersey!
