Tyreek Hill struck a more reflective tone about his recent encounter with police officers, during an interview that aired before Amazon Prime’s Thursday Night Football .
In previous comments on the issue, Hill expressed outrage over being pulled out of his car and aggressively handcuffed for an alleged traffic infraction before Sunday’s Miami Dolphins game. That incident, captured on police body cams, quickly sparked a national conversation.
Hill told TNF’s Taylor Rooks that the incident was traumatic, and he’s only been able to watch the video once. He also said there were things the video did not show.
“Whenever I was handcuffed behind my back, the officer was pinching me on my neck, like trying to get me to like do something to him, which is crazy, next-level crazy,” Hill said.
Hill said he sees the incident as a chance for progress.
“I get a chance to like at least try to bring awareness to what this whole entire country has been trying to fix for the past decades, so … you’ve got pros and then you’ve got cons in every situation,” Hill said. “It’s all about what you do with the situation.”
Hill said his mother was furious after watching the video.
“I said, ‘Let’s not get mad, let’s learn,'” Hill said. “The more we get mad, I feel like that’s moving us backwards. It’s all about accountability, on both sides…I’m going to take accountability for my wrongs.’ I want to know where I went wrong, and how can I get better. I want to hear…accountability on that side too, though.”
Hill admitted the first officer he interacted with probably had his own concerns.
“I guess, in the heat of the moment, the officer’s thinking about his safety, I’m thinking about, ‘I don’t want pictures taken of me. … So I tried to meet in the middle and say here’s my ID, I’m going to leave my window barely (down),” Hill said. “But does that give him the right to pull me out of the car? No, it doesn’t. That doesn’t give them the right to put their hands on me, antagonize me.”
This is all part of a conversation that needs to be had on a national level, Hill said.
“We’re going to have some very uncomfortable conversations, and hopefully we’re able to move the needle,” he said. “Because as athletes, we want to be able to help the police. We want to be their voice, because we all want a safe community.”
The TNF studio crew generally agreed with Hill’s sentiment that he could have reacted better to the situation, but what the one police officer in particular did was excessive.
“You’re taught at a young age as a black man, ‘Put your arms on the wheel, present your information…and try to get out of the situation as quickly as possible, unharmed,” Richard Sherman said. “And you’re not always in control of that. Do I think Tyreek was right? He said he wasn’t right. He could have done things better. One of the officers specifically was absolutely wrong in this.”
“Could he have rolled the window down, could he have listened better?” Andrew Whitworth asked. “Sure. Does he need to be on the pavement … being jerked around and treated that way?”
“Yeah, I agree with both you guys,” Tony Gonzalez said. “Deescalation, that’s what the cops are supposed to do, and he didn’t do it.”
[Photo Credit: Prime Video]
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