Tyreek Hill is one of the biggest names in the NFL, and no stranger to making headlines. His prowess on the field has earned him widespread recognition; his actions off the field, at times, a lot of scrutiny.
Hill was back in the limelight after a social media influencer and OnlyFans model who had enrolled her son in Hill’s football camp sued him in late February, accusing him of “violently” charging at her during a “friendly football lesson” at his Broward mansion, breaking her leg.
This isn’t the first time allegations of violence have surfaced surrounding Hill, 30, the Miami Dolphins star wide receiver. When in college, he pleaded guilty to throwing around his ex-fianceé “like a ragdoll” and was ordered to take anger management classes. When playing for the Kansas City Chiefs, Hill was the subject of a criminal investigation that was ultimately closed without charges after his 3-year-old son broke his arm. As a Dolphin, Hill was accused of slapping a charter boat worker after a day of deep-sea fishing.
Most recently, police were called to his home in January after his wife’s cousin said she overheard him screaming at his wife, public records obtained by the Miami Herald reveal. Hill also is facing two paternity suits involving two women, each claiming he is the father of their child.
Hill’s football fraternity — the Dolphins’ top brass, coaches and his teammates — say Hill has changed since those headlines from earlier days. Shortly after a fire accidentally set by a child destroyed part of Hill’s Broward home in January, Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa told reporters that Hill was a strong person who had been dealing with a lot.
As he approaches eight years in the National Football League, Hill, who didn’t respond to the Miami Herald’s requests for an interview, talked in a recent podcast about how he’s “cleaning up” his life and trying to return to the faith-based roots of his grandparents.
“I lost my true self from what my grandparents raised me to be when I entered the league,” Hill told the podcasters. “I completely forgot my relationship with God. And it really showed.”
Troubles began in college
In 2014, Hill was kicked off the Oklahoma State University football team after pleading guilty to domestic assault and battery by strangulation after attacking his then-pregnant fianceé. He received three years probation and was ordered to complete a year-long anger management course, according to news reports.
Court records from the Oklahoma conviction — and legal action later taken in Kansas by Hill’s ex-fianceé, Crystal Espinal — were sealed.
With Hill’s criminal conviction, top-tier universities weren’t risking a bet on the star athlete, widely regarded as a top NFL draft pick. Coach Brett Gilliland of the University of West Alabama saw a different side to 20-year-old Hill, however.
At the time, Gilliland told reporters that his first reaction to taking on Hill after reading his arrest report was “No.” But then he spoke to Hill’s previous coaches and mentors — and the player himself.
“As you get to know the kid, get to know the people behind the kid, we started coming around to ‘Hey, there’s more to this,’” Gilliland told the Kansas City Star in 2016.
Gilliland also mentioned being swayed by Hill’s plea deal, which required that he work full-time or remain a college student. Hill’s conviction was expunged in 2018.
“I did something I shouldn’t have done,” Hill told the judge while pleading guilty. “I let my feelings take control of me.”
When they first talked in Gilliland’s office, Hill declared that he wanted to be one of the best players in the game, the coach recalls. He also wanted to prove that he was worthy of another chance.
“He felt like he was not being seen in the light that he wanted people to view him in,” Gilliland said in an interview with the Herald. “He just came across like he wanted a chance to prove he wasn’t what people were viewing him as.”
For Gilliland, one of the things that stuck out the most about the standout was his mind-set: “He didn’t come in here as a guy that felt so highly of himself that he didn’t think he had to practice. He came every day to compete and to work. He had something to prove, and he wanted to prove it on the field and off it.”
After a year at West Alabama, Hill was drafted in the fifth round (165th overall) of the 2016 NFL Draft by the Chiefs, who added quarterback Patrick Mahomes the following year.
While still suiting up for the Chiefs in 2019, Hill and Espinal, his fianceé at the time, were investigated by Kansas’ child welfare agency after their 3-year-old son broke his arm. Child-welfare investigators temporarily removed the boy from their custody.
Prosecutors said they believed a crime was committed against the toddler but they didn’t press charges, saying there was no way to prove who did it.
“We are deeply troubled by this situation and are concerned about the health and welfare of the child in question,” Kansas prosecutor Steve Howe told the Kansas City Star. “A child has been hurt. So, yes, as a prosecutor, as a father of four kids, yes, it frustrates me when someone hurts a child that you can’t do anything about it.”