Pro Football Rumors

As expected, the NFL announced Friday night that it was placing Chiefs starting running back Kareem Hunt on the Commissioner Exempt list, Ian Rapoport of NFL Network tweets. 

Hunt will not count against the Chiefs’ 53-man roster but will be paid. He cannot practice, play in or attend games with the team while on this list.

This outcome was a foregone conclusion after a video surfaced Friday of the second-year back pushing a 19-year-old woman and kicking her while she was on the floor in an incident at a Cleveland hotel this past February.

Hunt will stay on the list as the NFL investigates the recently surfaced video and decides on the repercussions. He will miss the week’s game against the Raiders and could miss the remainder of the season and playoffs, depending on the length of the investigation, which will include a review of the information that became public on Friday, Rapoport tweets.

According to Rapoport (Twitter link), neither the NFL, nor the Chiefs, had seen the video until today. The league reportedly made several attempts to acquire the footage but was denied by the hotel, which said corporate policy would only allow it to release the video to law enforcement. The Cleveland Police Department would then not provide it to the league.

The NFL’s statement was a brief one:

The NFL has placed Kareem Hunt of the Kansas City Chiefs on the Commissioner Exempt list, and as a result, he may not practice, play or attend games. The NFL’s investigation, which began immediately following the incident in February, will include a review of the new information that was made public today.

Earlier this week, former 49ers linebacker and recent Redskins signing Reuben Foster was placed on the exempt list after he was arrested for alleged domestic violence, his third arrest in 2018, late last week. Other notable names to be placed on the list include Adrian Peterson in 2014 following child-abuse allegations and Greg Hardy for domestic violence. Peterson missed the rest of the season before returning to the field in 2015 and Hardy’s career was essentially ended.

The Chiefs sent Kareem Hunt home from the team facility on Friday after disturbing new footage of his February brawl emerged, Dan Graziano of ESPN.com tweets. From here, Graziano believes that Hunt will be placed on the commissioner’s exempt list pending a final decision, though determination hasn’t been made just yet. 

Hunt got into an ugly brawl in a Cleveland hotel last year, but the full details of the event were not made public until Friday afternoon. The leaked security footage shows Hunt in a screaming match with a 19-year-old girl and kicking her while she is down on the floor.

The commissioner’s exempt list would effectively serve as a paid suspension for Hunt. Since Hunt was not arrested or suspended in the wake of the incident, the NFL will likely park the running back on the sidelines while they conduct a more thorough investigation. Of course, many are wondering why the NFL did not obtain the video footage sooner, particularly after the Ray Rice incident of 2014.

Rice was initially suspended two games when he was indicted on aggravated assault charges in 2014. The league, however, did not see the full video, which was later released showing the Ravens running back hitting his now wife in the face in an elevator. After receiving national attention, the NFL moved to indefinitely suspend the back and revised its policy toward domestic violence.

The NFL’s leading rusher as a rookie in 2017, Hunt currently ranks third in the league in offensive touchdowns with 14. While an investigation is underway, the AFC West division leaders will likely rely heavily on veteran Spencer Ware.

In February, Chiefs running back Kareem Hunt was involved in a skirmish with a 19-year-old woman. On Friday, disturbing video evidence of the incident was released by TMZ. 

Security footage from a Cleveland hotel shows Hunt arguing and shoving the woman, who claims that she was ejected from Hunt’s room after refusing to have intercourse with one of the running back’s friends. The woman responded by striking Hunt and friends moved quickly to hold him back. Hunt broke free, accidentally knocked one of his mates into the woman, and sent them both flying into a wall. The woman appeared dazed by the impact, and Hunt kicked her while she was on the ground.

When police came to the hotel, Hunt and the accuser had different accounts of what happened. While she says that she was kicked out of Hunt’s room for refusing to sleep with one of his buddies, Hunt claims that she was asked to leave and retaliated with a racial slur.

No arrests were made at the time, but the shocking footage is likely to result in some serious consequences for Hunt. The Chiefs have only just learned about the video, but it’s hard to imagine Hunt being allowed to suit up for Sunday’s game against the Raiders. Beyond that, Hunt’s status for the remainder of the season may be in jeopardy.

The Chiefs were aware of the incident, but apparently only saw the footage on Friday when it was made public. During training camp, CEO Clark Hunt addressed the matter and clearly did not have all of the details.

“The team is made up of a bunch of young men,” Hunt said. “They’re not always going to make the best decisions, but we have a strong support system both with the coaching staff and with our player development department that works with young guys and talks to them about the situations that they want to be in. Kareem is a young man, second year in the league, obviously had a very big year on the field last year. I’m sure he learned some lessons this offseason and hopefully won’t be in those kinds of situations in the future.”

Hunt, 23, led the league with 1,327 rushing yards last year while adding eight scores on the ground and three through the air. He also caught 53 passes for 455 yards, positioning him as one of the best running backs in the NFL. This year, Hunt is averaging a solid 4.6 yards per carry with 14 touchdowns in total.

The Chiefs lead the AFC with a 9-2 record and can clinch a playoff berth with a win this weekend. The Chargers aren’t far behind at 8-4, but the Chiefs can effectively clinch the division if they beat the Raiders and the Bolts lose to the Steelers.

If Hunt is suspended, the Chiefs will likely turn to Spencer Ware as their primary tailback. Damien Williams and Darrel Williams are also on the roster to serve as backups.