Kareem Hunt Live Interview

[Mike from Canada]

Current job your probably correct ... but good luck getting a new job & passing a background check with a felony or serious misdemeanor on your record.

When i was his age i collected a nice long list of criminal history and sinve then have cleaned up my life. Young people make mistakes.

You don't get a second chance for certain things. For example, if you're a sex offender, that follows you around your entire life and one "mistake" in that way greatly restricts your opportunities going forward.

And something I have been troubled by in this and other threads is the use of the word mistake. Hunt's actions were not a mistake, he made a choice. A mistake only happens when someone is trying to do something but fails, a fumble is a mistake, dropping a glass is a mistake, arriving at the wrong answer when trying to solve a math problem is a mistake - attacking another person is a decision, not a mistake. He made a choice and choices have consequences. It may have been impulsive and emotional, but it was a choice nonetheless and with everything that has happened over the past few years I have no problem with him never being able to play another down in the nfl due to that choice. I like your story and I hope Hunt also cleans up his life, but perhaps it has to be outside of the NFL. He doesn't have to be a professional football player to have a meaningful life and turn things around.

There must be many players you don't want in the NFL. Adam Jones, Winston, Roethlisberger, etc, etc, etc. Or is it just Hunt?

[darewood11]

Current job your probably correct ... but good luck getting a new job & passing a background check with a felony or serious misdemeanor on your record.

When i was his age i collected a nice long list of criminal history and sinve then have cleaned up my life. Young people make mistakes.

You don't get a second chance for certain things. For example, if you're a sex offender, that follows you around your entire life and one "mistake" in that way greatly restricts your opportunities going forward.

And something I have been troubled by in this and other threads is the use of the word mistake. Hunt's actions were not a mistake, he made a choice. A mistake only happens when someone is trying to do something but fails, a fumble is a mistake, dropping a glass is a mistake, arriving at the wrong answer when trying to solve a math problem is a mistake - attacking another person is a decision, not a mistake. He made a choice and choices have consequences. It may have been impulsive and emotional, but it was a choice nonetheless and with everything that has happened over the past few years I have no problem with him never being able to play another down in the nfl due to that choice. I like your story and I hope Hunt also cleans up his life, but perhaps it has to be outside of the NFL. He doesn't have to be a professional football player to have a meaningful life and turn things around.

Hes mot a pedophile. Police did not even charge him. You are not above the law. Let the law do there job and discipline accordingly.

[Orenthal Shames]

People actually spent time watching this?

[Jigga94]

People actually spent time watching this?

I heard a clip on the radio. Dude sounded like Belicheck in a post game interview all bored and what not

[IR1]

charges likely should have been pressed. for whatever reason they werent. thats the real issue this video should be confronting and bringing to bare, not something so trivial as to whether the dude should be able to play football again. but the NFL generates more hits than attacking the police department, so TMZ angled it to question the NFL. everything else is just the NFL covering their rear and waiting two weeks for this to blow over, like every other similar case

This. As long as companies/authorities protect players/celebrities/etc from the consequence of their actions, we continue with these events. Most of the time a second chance is warranted, and it may be easier to give that second chance if there is timely and "fair" punishment.

[Pet_Smith]

He shouldn't get a lifetime ban, but he needs to face up to who he is and what he has done.

Andy Reid isn't afraid of making the big call and says he hopes he goes away from football for a long time to reflect and move forward with his life, and only then maybe trying to make a come back. I agree with this. He needs some time away from the spotlight to reflect, and face up to the choices he made in the past. And then IF he can show that he is genuinely contrite and turned a new leaf, then he should be have the opportunity to try and earn a roster spot assuming he still has it. Couple of big ifs in there. And that interview has really torpedoed his image further....

[Jfever]

I'm an educator. I teach Biology and Human Anatomy at the high school level and at the college level. If a video of me, drunk and disorderly, in a physical conflict with a woman were to go public. Not only would I loose my current job, I'd have a very difficult time finding a new one. Hunt is by far more wealthy than I am. Fair to assume, I'm far more educated and consequently, have far more student loans to STILL pay off as I was not / am not as physically talented to have received a full ride scholarship. It is not a double standard. He made several very poor decisions, and the fact is, if you make poor decisions you (in real life) have to pay for them. Bottom line is, he should be out, the NFL should hold him accountable. If there is some semblance of consistency by the NFL, this larger social issue will start to improve.

[Mike from Canada]

But that's the thing. There is no consistency.

[thebeast]

But that's the thing. There is no consistency.

You keep failing to realize that in this case there is definitive proof of Hunt physically assaulting a victim, it may only be a slice of what happened, but that's the video that exists. Whether in the court of public opinion or in a court of law, video evidence is just damning. If there is video of Ben locking a girl in a bathroom against her will, etc. I am all for him having a lifetime ban and being out of the league. When there isn't video it's harder to just take the word of others because we know there are a lot of other people looking to bring down guys down who will lie for their own benefit and moment in the spotlight. But when there's indisputable proof then I think you throw the book at them.

Honestly, the saddest part for me is I think a lot of guys arguing about fairness and other players this, other players that, don't give a crap about Hunt or any of these guys or the victims. All they care about is how this affects their FF team and feel it isn't fair that the guy, the star, they own may get a strict punishment. That is very sad.

[Vcize]

i dont really care if the people i watch smash into each other and literally risk broken bones on a routine basis are "good people." I also dont think the NFL, or any sports league, needs to be the morality police.

Yeah, I'm not sure I get this crusade the last few years to hold the NFL accountable as some great bastion of morality while other public figures are not. It's not like musicians are a bunch of law abiding family men and women.

Heck, our politicians and priests, the two public figures that actually SHOULD be role models and points of morality make Hunt and the rest of the NFL look like saints.

[Mike from Canada]

But that's the thing. There is no consistency.

You keep failing to realize that in this case there is definitive proof of Hunt physically assaulting a victim, it may only be a slice of what happened, but that's the video that exists. Whether in the court of public opinion or in a court of law, video evidence is just damning. If there is video of Ben locking a girl in a bathroom against her will, etc. I am all for him having a lifetime ban and being out of the league. When there isn't video it's harder to just take the word of others because we know there are a lot of other people looking to bring down guys down who will lie for their own benefit and moment in the spotlight. But when there's indisputable proof then I think you throw the book at them.

Honestly, the saddest part for me is I think a lot of guys arguing about fairness and other players this, other players that, don't give a crap about Hunt or any of these guys or the victims. All they care about is how this affects their FF team and feel it isn't fair that the guy, the star, they own may get a strict punishment. That is very sad.

So Tyreek Hill should be allowed to play in your view?

[Jfever]

i dont really care if the people i watch smash into each other and literally risk broken bones on a routine basis are "good people." I also dont think the NFL, or any sports league, needs to be the morality police.

Yeah, I'm not sure I get this crusade the last few years to hold the NFL accountable as some great bastion of morality while other public figures are not. It's not like musicians are a bunch of law abiding family men and women.

Heck, our politicians and priests, the two public figures that actually SHOULD be role models and points of morality make Hunt and the rest of the NFL look like saints.

Issue may be that the NFL minimum salary is about 10x + that of the avg middle class / college educated person. That is, and should be considered a privilege not a right, and in order to maintain that privilege, a code of behavior should be established and upheld. The Priests and Politicians and some of the stories associated with them, well, as people of power and influence, Yes, they should also be held to a high standard of behavior. Unfortunately, we live in a society that is full of under informed, gullible / easily influenced people. The state of our politics today and the current leader of our country speak massive volumes toward the sorry state that our society is currently in. Our elected leader of the executive branch is a compulsive known liar, he is also a racist and sexist business man - and nearly 50% of the voting public ACTUALLY voted for him. That in itself should tell you the sorry state of our current society.

[Vcize]

i dont really care if the people i watch smash into each other and literally risk broken bones on a routine basis are "good people." I also dont think the NFL, or any sports league, needs to be the morality police.

Yeah, I'm not sure I get this crusade the last few years to hold the NFL accountable as some great bastion of morality while other public figures are not. It's not like musicians are a bunch of law abiding family men and women.

Heck, our politicians and priests, the two public figures that actually SHOULD be role models and points of morality make Hunt and the rest of the NFL look like saints.

Issue may be that the NFL minimum salary is about 10x + that of the avg middle class / college educated person. That is, and should be considered a privilege not a right, and in order to maintain that privilege, a code of behavior should be established and upheld. The Priests and Politicians and some of the stories associated with them, well, as people of power and influence, Yes, they should also be held to a high standard of behavior. Unfortunately, we live in a society that is full of under informed, gullible / easily influenced people. The state of our politics today and the current leader of our country speak massive volumes toward the sorry state that our society is currently in. Our elected leader of the executive branch is a compulsive known liar, he is also a racist and sexist business man - and nearly 50% of the voting public ACTUALLY voted for him. That in itself should tell you the sorry state of our current society.

All fair points. Though FWIW there are plenty of musicians and actors that make enough money to make Kareem Hunt's salary look like loose change in the sofa, and domestic abuse charges (among many many other crimes) are rampant in those industries without everyone harping on how the whole industry needs to be overhauled.

[Friction]

Without a complete thread derail, saying our country is in a sad state because whom people voted for, is very inaccurate. Some of the nicest, morally driven people I know voted for DT and the reasoning was anywhere from I am not interested in a president's personal outlook, but rather his political stance, to acknowledging the previous president set an extremely racist tone already to just plain wanting to vote opposite of the current regime, to not wanting to be part of the safe space seekers/everything's offensive crowd.Though I get the cause and effect some are attempting to make with that. Its the same as saying all football fans are meathead, low IQ, drunken idiots that slap around women and are racist, since so many are in the causal observer's mind or the non-sports enthusiasts. We need an overhaul (males and females) on DV, pretty much across the board. It is no secret the NFL has morality issues, though I just don't get as bent out of shape over it as some. Its entertainment to me and I would be somewhat hypocritical if i did I suppose. Its probably why my life is very little affected by the results on the field and I get no motivational attachment when my "team" wins or loses. Will Hunt be the example and should he be? I personally don't think his particular incident is the one they should pick as far as the extremity of it, but maybe the timing of it is.

[CubfanAA]

Yeah, I'm not sure I get this crusade the last few years to hold the NFL accountable as some great bastion of morality while other public figures are not. It's not like musicians are a bunch of law abiding family men and women.

Heck, our politicians and priests, the two public figures that actually SHOULD be role models and points of morality make Hunt and the rest of the NFL look like saints.

Issue may be that the NFL minimum salary is about 10x + that of the avg middle class / college educated person. That is, and should be considered a privilege not a right, and in order to maintain that privilege, a code of behavior should be established and upheld. The Priests and Politicians and some of the stories associated with them, well, as people of power and influence, Yes, they should also be held to a high standard of behavior. Unfortunately, we live in a society that is full of under informed, gullible / easily influenced people. The state of our politics today and the current leader of our country speak massive volumes toward the sorry state that our society is currently in. Our elected leader of the executive branch is a compulsive known liar, he is also a racist and sexist business man - and nearly 50% of the voting public ACTUALLY voted for him. That in itself should tell you the sorry state of our current society.

All fair points. Though FWIW there are plenty of musicians and actors that make enough money to make Kareem Hunt's salary look like loose change in the sofa, and domestic abuse charges (among many many other crimes) are rampant in those industries without everyone harping on how the whole industry needs to be overhauled.

Those two industries are really bad examples for you, because a LOT of people do harp on how they need to be overhauled because of rampant abuse. Probably even a lot more than harp on the NFL...