ChiefsPlanet - Chiefs ‘Kareem Cut Kareem’ — The Athletic article with all the details

This comes from the Athletic’s Nate Taylor and requires subscription (or you can use a one week free trial to read... I’m not going to include the actual article, but I will give the details that you’ll want to know. And full disclosure, it’s sad as ****.

Quote:

Tears streamed down Kareem Hunt’s cheeks Friday evening after he learned of his fate with the Kansas City Chiefs, the team he had starred for in 2017 and ’18. Hunt cried in front of his coaches and members of the front office, according to multiple league sources with knowledge of the situation. With trembling emotion in his voice, Hunt apologized for his mistake and pleaded to the Chiefs to reconsider their decision...

It really felt like a funeral,” one source told The Athletic on Saturday...

...As Hunt was dealing with the shock of his contract being terminated, he also was given an emphatic message from multiple team officials, according to sources close to the team: The Chiefs don’t want Hunt’s future to be similar to what former NFL running back Ray Rice experienced....

..The Chiefs told Hunt that he would never play in their uniform again, but that they would do what they could to help him remain in the NFL if he takes the necessary steps to improve his behavior and make better decisions in the future...

...Before the Chiefs left Kansas City for Oakland on Saturday, team officials told Hunt they wanted him to continue to receive counseling — which he had done this season through the team — after being placed on the NFL’s Commissioner Exempt list. According to a team source, the Chiefs called the NFL twice Friday afternoon to express their desire to have Hunt enrolled in a new counseling program through the league, even as the league continues its investigation of the incident...

...The Chiefs expect Hunt to be suspended six games for violating the NFL’s personal-conduct policy once the league ends its investigation, which is expected to happen this offseason...

...The Chiefs, according to multiple league sources, knew video evidence of the altercation existed, but they were told by the NFL to stop pursuing it later in February once the league began its investigation. The league, however, couldn’t obtain the video.

Hunt complicated his situation, according to a team source, by not informing the Chiefs of the incident later in the day on Feb. 10. The Chiefs learned of Hunt’s altercation after it became public through two police reports, neither of which included anything about Hunt kicking the woman. In the months that followed, the Chiefs on multiple occasions asked Hunt to be completely truthful about what happened that night. “I never left the (hotel) room,” Hunt told the Chiefs each time. “I didn’t do a thing.”...

...According to a team source, the Chiefs anticipate multiple teams will attempt to sign Hunt — who has recorded 2,984 all-purpose yards and 25 total touchdowns in just 27 games — if NFL commissioner Roger Goodell rules him eligible to play again.

The Chiefs, in an effort to help their former player, plan to explain to inquiring teams who Hunt was as a person — compassionate, jovial and proudly involved in community events — under their structure and watch. Several members of the Chiefs hope to see Hunt in an NFL uniform again, and after a tearful goodbye with their former star, the Chiefs want Hunt to grow from his mistakes and the necessary counseling...

...“Coach (Andy Reid) didn’t cut Kareem, (general manager) Brett (Veach) didn’t cut Kareem and (owner) Clark (Hunt) didn’t cut Kareem,” a source told The Athletic. “Kareem cut Kareem.”