Dolphins coaches, players react to ‘triggering’ video of Tyreek Hill’s detainment

MIAMI GARDENS — After Monday night’s release of the officer body-cam footage of the Sunday morning confrontations with Miami Dolphins players Tyreek Hill, Calais Campbell and Jonnu Smith, including the detainment and handcuffing of Hill and Campbell, more reaction surfaced from Dolphins headquarters Tuesday.

Dolphins defensive coordinator Anthony Weaver, who is Black, had an emotional response and felt empathy, alluding to some of his own experiences growing up.

“Having now seen the video, obvious it’s triggering for a number of reasons,” Weaver said.

“My upbringing is unique. It’s not something I need to talk a whole lot about. It’s unfortunate in this day and time, when I had two boys and my wife is Mexican-American, and both the times that they were born and they were light-skin, there was almost a sense of relief in that they’re going to avoid some of the issues that I’ve had to deal with throughout my life.

“It’s unfortunate in this day and time that that still occurs. It’s out there.”

Weaver has a relationship with Campbell that dates back to time together with the Baltimore Ravens in 2021 and 2022. Campbell is a former Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year, an award which honors philanthropy along with excellence on the field, and Weaver couldn’t believe officers detained him.

“Not the Man of the Year. Certainly not the Man of the Year,” Weaver said of the 6-foot-8, 307-pound defensive tackle. “I’m actually surprised they had ‘cuffs big enough for him. Not in a million years would I have ever expected, going into that game, that scenario to occur.”

Campbell and Smith were among those to check in on Hill at the scene. Dolphins security director Drew Brooks, Hill’s agent Drew Rosenhause and Miami wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. were also there supporting Hill. The confrontation occurred outside Hard Rock Stadium ahead of the Dolphins’ 20-17 season-opening win over the Jacksonville Jaguars .

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Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa felt it was something that hit close to home as he, like many others, watched the footage released Monday.

“It was a little emotional for me, hearing Tyreek’s voice in the footage, just knowing Tyreek,” Tagovailoa said. “For me, a lot of the instances that I see are of people that I don’t know and it’s happening to those people, so for it to have happened to somebody that I knew, and then hearing Tyreek’s voice throughout that — and we talked about it — it was a little emotional.”

Tagovailoa said he wasn’t even aware what Hill experienced Sunday morning until he saw television footage of it inside the stadium after noticing players huddled around Hill’s locker room pregame offering support.

“I think it could have been deescalated another way,” he said after watching footage. “I don’t think it was done the right way. There’s a lot of things that I think could have been done different.”

Others with the team were unaware what was happening in the moment and wish they could’ve been there with Hill.

“It’s a shame that had to happen that way,” offensive coordinator Frank Smith said. “It’s just one of those that, as a person, you spend all your time with these guys, you want to be there all the time to help. For me, like many guys, you wish you were there to help, as well.

“But you couldn’t be more proud, for us, how the guys banded together. Guys stopping to be there for each other. Every excuse possible to go into the game and not perform, and they were able to compartmentalize and push forward.”

Smith was astonished at Hill’s resolve on the field Sunday, scoring an 80-yard touchdown among his seven receptions for 130 yards.

“You can’t say enough about him. What a stud,” Smith said. “You just can’t even put yourself there, to go through that. I had teammates in college, a lot of your life you hear stories, but for him to be able to go through that, to come out and be able to perform with his teammates, to band together, especially since it’s not like the game was easy, as well. You can’t say enough about Tyreek. He’s just a joy.”

Dolphins special teams coordinator Danny Crossman said of the incident involving Hill and the officers: “I haven’t seen the video. No. 1, I’m glad that everyone came out unharmed — both our players, first and foremost, but also law enforcement; they have a hard job to do.

“I just know that for the last several years, the National Football League, ‘We’re all in this together, stop hate,’ all these things that we’re putting on the jerseys, on the hats, in the end zone. Again, I think it’s just another reminder that we still have such a long way to go.”

Dolphins defensive tackle Zach Sieler said Tuesday he just wants to be there to support Hill and offer any help he can provide.

Wide receiver Braxton Berrios was distraught from seeing the body-cam video.

“It was very sad, very bothersome to see,” Berrios said. “The first word that comes to mind is the hostility, the escalation for no apparent reason.”

On Monday, the Dolphins released a statement in support of Hill and calling for action against the officers involved.