If you’re a Miami Dolphins fan, you probably know that the team’s 20-17 victory over the Jacksonville Jaguars on Sunday was massively helped by a huge momentum swing. Following a Jaguar’s fumble, Dolphin’s QB Tua Tagovailoa threw a bomb to WR Tyreek Hill for an 80-yard catch and run touchdown.
Even if you’re not a fan, you may have noticed that Hill pretended to be handcuffed during his celebration. That’s because he was detained by Miami-Dade police right before the game on allegations of reckless driving, apparently targeted merely for being a Black man driving an expensive car.
But while the police stop was made with racist motivations, it wasn’t Hill’s first brush with the law, and some of the other allegations against him are even more troubling. Here’s a rundown of all his controversial moments over the years.
Tyreek Hill – the college years
Hill’s story begins at Garden City Community College in Kansas City, where the promising young athlete played a few seasons before transferring to Oklahoma State in 2014 to play Division-I football. However, his stint would be short lived because he’d be arrested on domestic violence charges against his girlfriend Crystal Espinal, who was eight weeks pregnant at the time.
On Dec. 12, she told police he strangled her during an argument after punching her in the stomach and face. She said she was worried about the baby and her stomach hurt. Hill was charged with battery by strangulation and felony domestic assault. The next day, he was ejected from the program.
“Oklahoma State University does not tolerate domestic abuse or violence,” the school said at the time. Hill pleaded guilty and got three years of probation, court costs and fines, two years post release supervision and was forced to take a 52-week anger management course.
He was given another chance at football the following year when he joined West Alabama, a Division II school. He only played a year before declaring for the NFL draft.
Tyreek Hill with the Kansas City Chiefs
It would make sense to think that someone with such a heinous admission, that of punching and strangling your pregnant girlfriend, would be ineligible for the NFL. That was the general consensus and he wasn’t even invited to the NFL combine to try out. He had a “pro day” later though, and ran a 4.25-second 40-yard dash. For reference, the world record for that is 4.21 seconds.
Apparently, when you have speed like that domestic abuse doesn’t quite matter as much. He was drafted by the Kansas City Chiefs in 2016 in the fifth round – the 156th pick overall. Then-general manager John Dorsey told The Kansas City Star that Hill was fully vetted and that the team would “never put anybody in this community in harm’s way.”
Hill made Pro bowl and All-Pro for three years straight, and then in 2019 he was in trouble with the law again. News broke that Hill was under investigation for allegedly breaking his then 3-year-old son’s arm. This was the same child he punched in his now-fiance Espinal’s stomach. Audio was leaked of Hill with Espinal where she accused him of punching the child in the chest while he accused her of using a belt on him.
Espinal told Hill that their son was “terrified” of him, and Hill shot back she should be terrified of him too. He was suspended from the Chiefs indefinitely. This would be a career-ender, no? Not for Hill. The NFL reversed the decision and said it “cannot conclude that Mr. Hill violated the Personal Conduct Policy. Accordingly, he may attend Kansas City’s training camp and participate in all club activities.”
He would go on to play in two Super Bowls, winning one, after signing a $54 million extension.
Tyreek Hill with the Miami Dolphins
Hill was traded to the Miami Dolphins in 2022 and given a four-year $120 million extension, making him the highest-paid wide receiver in the history of the NFL. In June of 2023, he allegedly got into a fight with a Miami marina employee after fishing illegally off of it. He allegedly slapped the man and told him he could “buy you and the boat” because he was on the Dolphins. He later settled with the man out of court for an undisclosed sum.
In February of this year, a lawsuit emerged claiming Hill broke the leg of model Sophie Hall during a “football drill” at his mansion. The incident reportedly happened eight days after the marina fight. She claimed he got mad when she held her own during playful drills, and this enraged him. He then charged her full force, she claims. The lawsuit is ongoing.
This brings us to opening day at Miami’s Hard Rock Stadium on Sept. 8. He was pulled over by police and placed in handcuffs. He was later released and one of the officers involved was placed on administrative leave.