Update: The Chiefs announced on Friday evening that they would be releasing Kareem Hunt immediately. Read more about the news here.
Chiefs running back Kareem Hunt was reportedly sent home from the team's facility Friday after a video was released that showed him shoving and kicking a woman. A few hours after the video came out, the NFL officially announced that Hunt would be placed on the commissioner exempt list as they continue their investigation into the incident, which took place in February. Per the NFL:
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.
The NFL's decision to put Hunt on the commissioner exempt list means that he will NOT be allowed to play on Sunday against the Raiders. As a matter of fact, Hunt won't be allowed to play again until he's taken off the list, which won't come until the NFL has completed its investigation. The league hasn't offered any sort of timetable on when the investigation might be complete, so it's not clear when Hunt will be able to return to the field.
According to NFL.com, although both the Chiefs and the NFL knew about the incident, neither party had seen the video before its release on Friday.
The video, which was obtained by TMZ, shows an incident that took place at a luxury hotel in Cleveland in February. At the beginning of the 79-second video, Hunt clearly shoves a woman. Near the end of the video, Hunt is also caught on film kicking the woman while she's on the ground. Hunt also appears to rush the woman, but he ended up hitting a man who was standing between Hunt and the woman. Hunt's charge caused both the man and the woman to fall to the ground.
The incident had been previously reported and addressed by the team during the offseason, but the video was made public for the first time Friday. After the video went public, the Chiefs decided to send Hunt home from practice.
According to NFL.com, the league tried to obtain the video, but was unable to. The hotel provided the security video to Cleveland police, who apparently refused to turn it over to the NFL.
The entire incident between Hunt and the woman took place in the early morning hours of Feb. 10. At the time, cops were called to the scene and a police report was made, but no charges were filed because Cleveland police viewed the incident as a cross complaint. Not only did the female call the cops on Hunt, but Hunt's friend also called police on her.
According to a police report obtained by Cleveland.com, the woman and her friend spent the night of Feb. 9 hanging on a party bus in Cleveland with Hunt and his friends. At some point in the night, everyone headed back to Hunt's place at The Metropolitan at the 9, where the incident took place.
One of Hunt's friends said that incident started after they found out that the woman, a student at Kent State, was only 19 years old. However, the woman disputed that fact and said that she was kicked out of Hunt's place because she "didn't want" one of the men.
After being kicked out, one of Hunt's friends said that the woman started using racial slurs. At that point, someone in Hunt's party apparently gave the woman and her friend $20 for a ride home, but the woman didn't want to leave. According to the police report, she stuck around for at least 30 more minutes and was yelling and pounding on the door to Hunt's apartment.
According to the police report, the physical altercation started when the woman hit one of Hunt's female friends in the face. At that point, Hunt came out of his apartment and "shoved and pushed" the woman, which is where the video picks up.
There were two police reports filed from the incident with one listing Hunt as a suspect and another that listed the woman as the suspect. Cleveland Police Sgt. Jennifer Ciaccia told Cleveland.com in February that since it was a cross complaint, no charges would be filed unless one of the two (Hunt or the woman) went to the prosecutor's office and asked to have charges pursued.
Hunt was asked about the incident back in August, but didn't have much to say.
"I've learned from it and I'm focused on football," Hunt said, via KansasCity.com. "Just be in the right place at the right time. I'm going to keep thinking about football and go out there and do my job."
Chiefs owner Clark Hunt also commented on the incident and said that his running back learned a lesson from it.
"Kareem is a young man, second year in the league, obviously had a very big year on the field last year," Clark Hunt said, via ESPN.com. "I'm sure he learned some lessons this offseason and hopefully won't be in those kind of situations in the future."
