Former Chiefs WR Makes Harsh Claims In Podcast
Former Chiefs wide receiver, Tyreek Hill, has teased his podcast for numerous weeks now. The podcast dropped yesterday, June 10, and features some scathing quotes about the wideout’s final season in Kansas City.
If you want to give the podcast a listen, the first episode discusses the massive trade that sent him to Miami this offseason. In 53 minutes, Tyreek Hill discusses the events that led up to the blockbuster deal with his agent, Drew Rosenhaus, and his co-host Julius Collins. It’s well worth your time if you’re a Chiefs fan but fair warning; it listens a lot like listening to an ex-girlfriend talk about how much happier she is since leaving you for her new boyfriend.
There is good substance as well as some good looks behind the curtain. Many of what is discussed may not be true or could be spun differently to fit the narrative. I also think some of the takes are downright laughable, but I digress. Let’s take a look at some of the notable quotes from the podcast:
Hill Discusses His Entry Into The NFL With The Chiefs
Some of the best parts of the podcast are the beginning. Drew Rosenhaus kicks it off by talking about Tyreek Hill the player before Hill himself dives into his rookie season after being drafted in the fifth round by Kansas City.
“Tyreek is a once in a generation talent.” “The most explosive player that’s ever played in the NFL.” Agent Drew Rosenhaus, discussing who Tyreek Hill is as a player
This is one of the tidbits in the webcast that all Chiefs fans should be able to agree with. Since entering the NFL, we’ve all seen the greatness that is Tyreek Hill. His ascension from deadly kick returner to one of the very best wide receivers in the entire NFL has been legendary. This jump has happened mostly thanks to his once-in-a-generation ability to accelerate.
Sure, Hill is fast, but so was Marquise Goodwin. So is John Ross. What separates Tyreek from those other speedy wideouts? His acceleration ability is second to none. Hill can cover more ground in the first two seconds of his routes than anyone we’ve ever seen in the NFL. This, more than anything, has made him the special player he’s become. His hands are good, and his speed is elite, but his acceleration is legendary.
“Jeremy Maclin was a dude, he was an idol to me.” Tyreek Hill, discussing his first season in Kansas City and playing with Jeremy Maclin
Hill goes into detail about his first season in Kansas City after Rosenhaus opens. He mentions Jeremy Maclin as someone he looked up to during his first year in the NFL. Maclin was an idol for Hill and he mentions remembering playing as the former Philadelphia Eagle on Madden growing up. Most notably, Hill states he used to copy everything Maclin would do. Wherever Maclin went, Hill went. Whatever Maclin did to prepare, Hill also would do to prepare.
It seems as if Jeremy Maclin had a much larger impact on the rookie wide receiver than we ever thought before. Of course, after 2016, Maclin was released by the Chiefs. This opened the door for Hill to become the number one wide receiver in Kansas City and the rest is history. Hill also credits Alex Smith as one of the best guys he ever played with.
“You want the first four or last year? First four years was great.” Tyreek Hill, after being asked how his time was in Kansas City
Co-host Julius Collins asks Hill how his time was with the Chiefs. “Cheetah” responds asking if he wants to know about the first four years or his last season with the Chiefs. This is the first time we start to hear about some unrest in 2021 for the former Kansas City wideout. From there, the rest of the podcast spirals into grievances with the team.
Tyreek Hill Discusses Some Unrest Last Season With The Chiefs
Throughout much of last season, the NFL media covered the struggling Chiefs’ offense. The major storyline of the early 2021 season was “What’s wrong with Mahomes?” Of course, the team was facing an increasing amount of Cover 2 which effectively bottled up the deep ball. The offense had to adapt and Mahomes had to alter his play. However, we never heard until now of the frustration that Hill was dealing with.
Hill mentions that he would text Drew Rosenhaus every week. The two agreed that Hill was being underutilized in the Kansas City offense.
“The Chiefs weren’t taking full advantage of his talent” Drew Rosenhaus on frustrations from Hill in 2021
The two agreed; Tyreek Hill had been underutilized in 2021 and he wasn’t given a chance to help the team win. In 2021, Hill felt like the same commitment to him that was there his first four seasons was gone.
Following the season, Rosenhaus mentions that he reached out to the Chiefs to make sure they knew that Hill wanted to be in Kansas City. “Tyreek wanted to be in KC,” Hill says on the podcast. Hill stops short of saying the Chiefs suppressed his stats, however. Instead, the talk moves into contract negotiations.
Davante Adams Contract Was Nail In Coffin For Chiefs And Hill
Rosenhaus and Hill mention that they and the Chiefs entered the offseason far apart. The numbers that the team was using in extension talks were far apart from what Hill and his agent were looking for. The Chiefs weren’t willing to make Hill the highest-paid wide receiver, but what really changed the situation was the Davante Adams deal.
According to Rosenhaus, once Adams signed his contract, both he and Hill agreed that the Chiefs would need to beat the Adams deal or Hill would move on to someone who would.
“If they didn’t want to do that type of deal, we would get them a blockbuster trade.” Drew Rosenhaus on the Davante Adams contract impacting negotiations
Yes, it seems that the biggest move by the Raiders this offseason may not have been acquiring the NFL’s best wide receiver. Instead, it was creating a divide between Tyreek Hill and the Chiefs in the process. After Rosenhaus finishes discussing the Adams deal, Hill gives his take and mentions conversations he had with Patrick Mahomes and Andy Reid.
“I talked to Mahomes and Reid on the phone, I don’t even need to be the highest-paid, for real, I just want a realistic situation for me and my family,” Hill says. “I don’t need $30 mil, at least give me $25, $26 million.”
The biggest difference in the contract negotiations following the Adams trade and extension wasn’t so much in the annual compensation. No, the biggest gap was in guaranteed money. The Chiefs offered millions of dollars less in guaranteed money than the Adams contract entailed, and Hill was able to get that guaranteed money from the Dolphins.
Rosenhaus mentions that the Chiefs “Obviously didn’t value [Hill] to the same extent that Miami and the Jets did.” The Chiefs clearly didn’t undervalue Hill. No, they understood his value and contribution to the team but didn’t see the need to sacrifice the future in order to keep the potential Hall of Famer in town.
In Hill’s eyes, the team said they valued him more than Davante Adams but didn’t want to pay him like Adams. Instead, the Chiefs valued Hill for the picks he could acquire but refused to make the money match up.
Hill Resorts To Attacking The Chiefs As He Shows His True Intent
With talk of grievances against the team and talk of contract negotiations out of the way, the podcast finally turns to the real reasoning behind Hill’s departure from the Chiefs. He takes subtle jabs at his former teammates Travis Kelce and Patrick Mahomes. He also makes a bold claim that Andy Reid didn’t care about his family. The entire thought process seems exactly like what a diva wide receiver would say after he’s left town.
Hill claims that he was taking two or three defenders away in order to give Kelce “historic numbers.” This, despite the fact that Hill had more touchdowns and nearly identical yardage totals to Kelce over the previous two seasons.
Next, he finally mentions some specifics about why he felt disrespected by the team. Hill cites the Ravens game in week two of 2021. In the game, he caught just three passes for 14 yards on just four targets. The Chiefs went on to lose the game 35-36, but only due to a late Clyde Edwards-Helaire fumble.
“If teams will give me favorable one on one matchups, use me as the number one WR.” Hill on being underutilized in 2021 by the Chiefs
Next, Hill sets his sights on Andy Reid. He tells a story about the last offseason, before the 2021 season. The wide receiver claims that he talked to Reid before the season about his grandfather who sadly had prostate cancer. “They didn’t even want me to leave to see my grand-dad,” Hill claims. This is a bold claim about the same head coach that stood by during Hill’s legal battles. If true, it’s a bad look for the team but it’s unlikely we will learn the truth.
The final bridge that Hill burns in his podcast was the bridge to Patrick Mahomes. He sets his sights on his former quarterback with a series of bizarre and flat-out inaccurate statements. Hill mentions the Vikings game in 2019, in which he had 150 receiving yards with Matt Moore at quarterback. “I went for 150 with Matt Moore as my quarterback, and Tua-T is ten-Matt Moores!”
Rosenhaus lays out the truth in all its glory before Tyreek Hill finally burns it all to the ground. The agent discusses Miami. He discusses how Hill can live in a beautiful city, close to his family, and with a team that wants to build around him. Then he makes a bizarre statement:
“[The Dolphins] wanted to make [Hill] the face of the franchise. Mahomes is the face of the franchise in Kansas City.” Drew Rosenhaus on why Tyreek Hill wanted out of Kansas City
There it is. The truth finally arrives. Tyreek Hill wanted more guaranteed money, and he was frustrated with the change in his production last season. Despite setting the franchise record in receptions, his yards per reception mark was the lowest of his entire career. But no, none of those are the true reason that Tyreek Hill left Kansas City. He left Kansas City because he would never escape the shadow of Patrick Mahomes.
Hill wants to have the spotlight. He doesn’t want to be the playmaker or the elite supporting cast. No, he wants to be the superstar face of the franchise and he would have never gotten that chance with Mahomes and the Chiefs.
Hill’s ego has grown massive already, in just a few months in Miami. He incorrectly claims that Mahomes can’t perform with his former top wideout.
“[Reid] knows that without the cheetah, Pat gonna have a long day.” Tyreek Hill on Patrick Mahomes’ outlook after the trade
A truly laughable notion. Wide receivers come and go. Even the greatest wideouts struggle without great quarterbacks. We’ve seen this with AJ Green and Larry Fitzgerald. Patrick Mahomes has a passer rating of 103.1 with 1737 yards, 8 touchdowns, and 1 interception in 5 games without Tyreek Hill in his career.
Patrick Mahomes is the best quarterback in the NFL with or without Tyreek Hill. Hill’s best days are clearly behind him as he transitions into the diva stages of his career. A truly despicable exit for the former franchise legend.
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