The Chiefs have officially brought Kareem Hunt back to the franchise, several years after the team released him when a video surfaced of the running back pushing a woman to the ground and then kicking her.
In his Wednesday press conference, head coach Andy Reid did not express any qualms about re-signing Hunt.
“Yeah, so, what we told him and [said] publicly [in 2018], we just thought he needed a change of scenery and to get some help, take care of business there. And we felt like he did that,” Reid said. “He did a nice job in Cleveland. We talked to the people there, and there were no issues there. So, we felt OK by bringing him back.
“He’s 29 years old now — time flies — but he’s 29 years old, looks like he’s grown up some.”
Reid noted this was the first time the Chiefs have had real, true discussions about Hunt coming back to the franchise. But based on conversations with Browns officials and quarterback Patrick Mahomes staying in touch with Hunt, the Chiefs felt comfortable with bringing him in.
“Just calling around and making sure things were OK,” Reid said. “Pat stayed good friends with him. He was at Pat’s wedding. So, those two came out in the same class and developed a friendship here. And then, [Cleveland’s] General Manager spoke highly of him — coaches, and so on. So, we felt good about it. … I think people deserve a second chance if they’ve done something to work on the first part of it.
“I think we meant what we said, that you need to take care of this. This isn’t good as you go through life — for anybody. So, it seems like he has a grasp on that. I know he’s done good here since that point. And I anticipate that that continues. But if that wasn’t the case, then we wouldn’t have brought him back.”
While things have changed for the Chiefs since Hunt last played for them in 2018, the basics of the system are still the same — which means it likely won’t take Hunt too much time to get reacquainted and play. Reid said Hunt will do more with the scout team than the Chiefs’ offense at first, and the staff will judge things from there.
“He’ll know the base protections, he’ll know the base runs,” Reid said. “Some of the routes are a bit new, but we’re not flexing him out and making him do all that. Some of the terminology, he’s just got to hear the route terminology. But right now, it’s just job-specific for that team. It’s not like you’re coming into training camp you’ve got 300 plays. He just has to make sure he stays in tune with that.”
Last season, Hunt rushed for 411 yards with nine touchdowns and caught 15 passes for 84 yards with Cleveland.
“He had had a sports hernia surgery done a bit ago,” Reid said. “So I think he was probably affected by that a little bit, just coming back off that. But I still saw the burst, the toughness when he got back in there. And we worked him out here and felt good about it. But we’ll see.
“He’s getting up there, the running backs — he’s 29 years old,” Reid added with a laugh. “For a running back, that’s old.”
