Chiefs Chairman Says Team Will Make the 'Right Decision' Regarding Tyreek Hill

A disturbing audio clip released by KCTV5 on Thursday night captures Hill talking about potential abuse of his three-year-old son.
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Kansas City Chiefs chairman Clark Hunt told reporters Saturday that the team will make the "right decision" at the "right time" regarding wide receiver Tyreek Hill, who was captured in a disturbing 11-minute audio recordingdiscussing his three-year-old son's broken arm and how he and his fiancée should deal with the investigation into how it happened.

The clip, which was released by KCTV5 on Thursday, captures Hill's fiancee, Crystal Espinal, asking the receiver why their son said, "Daddy did it," in reference to his injured arm. Hill is heard at one point threatening Espinal, telling her, "You need to be terrified of me, too, b----."

Chiefs general manager Brett Veach announced the day the audio was released that Hill will not be partaking in any team activities while an investigation is conducted. He added that the team was made aware of the audio recording which was released Thursday "in real time, just like the general public," and that the team was "very concerned" by what they heard, yet no final decision regarding Hill's future has been made.

When the Chiefs released running back Kareem Hunt in November after a video was released showing him pushing and kicking a woman in a Cleveland hotel in February 2018, the decision was made the same day that the video surfaced. In explaining why this decision was taking longer, chairman Hunt said the team needed to gather more information on Hill.

"That goes back to the ongoing investigation with Tyreek and really our ability to get any information," Hunt said Saturday. "That audio was really among the first information we had received on the investigation."

Head coach Andy Reid confirmed Friday that the criminal investigation into Kansas City's wide receiver, which was initially closed by the District Attorney's Office on Wednesday, had been reopened in light of the audio.

Later in the conversation, Espinal discussed other instances of Hill getting physical with the child, saying, "You open up his arms and you punch him in the chest." Espinal also said in the recording that Hill used a belt on the child, who has temporarily been removed from their home amid a Department for Children and Families investigation.

In 2015, Hill pleaded guilty to domestic violence charges for punching and choking Espinal while she was pregnant. He was sentenced to three years probation but eventually selected by Kansas City in the fifth round in the 2016 NFL draft.


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