The week began with a flurry of news regarding wide receiver Tyreek Hill’s supposedly imminent return to the NFL. Then reality set in.
The NFL’s ongoing personal conduct policy investigation into Hill, based on abuse allegations made by his ex-wife, Keeta Vaccaro, has taken a backseat to a civil trial that began Tuesday. In it, Vaccaro seeks compensation for multiple cases of assault and battery.
On Thursday, Hill testified. Via Xuan Thai of ESPN, Hill admitted to pushing Vaccaro against a wall.
“I told him that night, I told him, ‘Don’t ever touch me in your life,'” Hill said on the witness stand. “I pushed her against the wall and tried to force her to leave me. I created a hole in the wall trying to force her to leave me that night.”
Hill clearly considers pushing Vaccaro against a wall hard enough to blow a hole in it to be a reasonable act of self-defense. The NFL might not agree with his assessment.
He also admitted to threatening Vaccaro. Hill said he was “deeply ashamed” for saying he was “capable of getting people to hurt him.” (He had no choice but to admit having said it; his words were recorded and preserved.)
Hill denied Vaccaro’s allegation that he hit her, scratched her, pushed her (apart from the admission that he pushed her against a wall hard enough to create a hole), spit in her face or attempted to punch her in the stomach while she was pregnant. While that might persuade a jury to exonerate him, the NFL will make its own assessment as to whether or not he did the things Vaccaro accused him of doing.
If, ultimately, NFL investigators believe Vaccaro more than they believe Hill, he could face a significant suspension. In theory, each incident of alleged abuse could trigger a base six-game suspension.
Then there’s Hill’s story, dating back to the 2015 guilty plea assault and battery by strangulation in an incident involving his then-pregnant girlfriend and a still-unsolved incident in 2019 that left his young son with a broken arm. Although the jury in the current case cannot hear evidence about these situations, the NFL is aware of all of this. And they will likely influence the league’s assessment of Hill’s credibility — and could result in increased discipline.
Trial testimony to date makes the unexpected effort to put Hill on an NFL team even stranger. Regardless of the strategy adopted to introduce the idea of Hill signing with the Chiefs or another team on the eve of the civil trial, the civil trial significantly complicates his desire to play again.
Even if the NFL doesn’t choose to ban him with the option to seek reinstatement after a year — the harshest punishment available under the personal conduct policy — what team in their right mind would sign him after the testimony of the past few days?
Gn sports
