The NFL is once again taking a huge public relations hit in the wake of the Kareem Hunt video that was released on Friday, and it sounds as if much of the criticism is well deserved.
ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported on Sunday that the NFL never interviewed Hunt or the woman he shoved and kicked when some details of the incident were first published back in February. The league never asked to interview Hunt as part of its investigation, and the woman and her friend did not respond to inquiries.
The NFL apparently spoke to other witnesses, and league investigators were told that Hunt had no involvement. The footage obtained by TMZ proves that he was, in fact, involved in a physical altercation with a woman, but the NFL feels it did everything possible from a legal standpoint.
In their statement after they cut Hunt, the Chiefs said they did so in part because the running back was not truthful about what happened with the February altercation. Schefter notes that the NFL obtained a copy of the police report from the incident and spoke to the Chiefs about their discussions with Hunt, but there was no attempt to interview him after that.
Both the NFL and law enforcement said they were denied requests to obtain surveillance footage from the hotel where the incident took place, so it sounds less unreasonable that league officials were unable to view it. Still, between the lack of interviews and what the NFL reportedly told the Chiefs about pursuing the footage, mistakes were almost certainly made yet again.
