Miami Dolphins head coach Mike McDaniel greets Tyreek hill throughout warm-ups earlier than the sport towards the Buffalo Payments at Exhausting Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Sept. 25, 2022. Miami Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel counseled his gamers for his or her response to Tyreek Hill and Calais Campbell being put in handcuffs hours earlier than their season opener Sunday and vowed the incident with police will not “get swept below the rug.”
Miami-Dade police stopped Hill’s automobile a few block away from Exhausting Rock Stadium on Sunday morning as a result of a shifting violation, and he was briefly detained. Video posted on-line confirmed the star receiver positioned face-down on the bottom by police whereas handcuffed.
When teammate Campbell — a veteran in his first season with the Dolphins — got here by the scene and tried to de-escalate the scenario, he too was briefly positioned in handcuffs.
Hill was finally issued two visitors citations. Miami-Dade police mentioned the officer who made preliminary contact with Hill was positioned on administrative responsibility whereas an investigation is performed.
McDaniel, 41, is biracial, the son of a Black father and White mom. Hill and Campbell are each Black.
“It has been arduous to not discover myself extra upset the extra I give it some thought,” McDaniel informed reporters at his scheduled Monday press convention.
“The factor that (expletive) me up, actually, to be fairly frank, is realizing that I do not know precisely — I do not know what that looks like.”
McDaniel mentioned it was “very, essential” to him to let due course of run its course, however that the sentiments Hill and Campbell expressed to him had been “unsettling.”
He added that he feels crushed by “the unknown” and the likelihood that the incident was worse than he already is aware of.
“Merely due to my look, I haven’t got a historical past of feeling profiled,” McDaniel mentioned. “For me particularly, I really feel fairly helpless at occasions.”
“However two issues did come from the adversity,” he added. “Tremendous pleased with teammates being teammates, and tremendous pleased with our guys understanding the civic duty of a platform.”
Hill made it to the sport in time to play and contributed an 80-yard catch-and-run landing that launched the Dolphins’ comeback in a 20-17 victory over the Jacksonville Jaguars. Upon Hill scoring the landing, teammate Jaylen Waddle helped him rejoice by grabbing Hill’s wrists behind his again and pretending to put him in handcuffs.
Afterward, Hill informed reporters he had “no thought” why he was handcuffed for a shifting violation and claimed he was not disrespectful towards the officer.
However the South Florida Police Benevolent Affiliation defended the officer in an announcement from president Steadman Stahl on Monday, claiming Hill didn’t cooperate. Video confirmed the officer gave Hill lower than one second to comply with orders earlier than being cursed at.
“First, to be clear, at no time was (Hill) ever below arrest,” the assertion learn. “He was briefly detained for officer security, after driving in a fashion during which he was placing himself and others in nice danger of hazard.
“Upon being stopped, Mr. Hill was not instantly cooperative with the officers on the scene who, pursuant to coverage and for his or her quick security, positioned Mr. Hill in handcuffs. Mr. Hill, nonetheless uncooperative, refused to take a seat on the bottom and was due to this fact redirected to the bottom.”
Police have but to launch official bodycam video, and McDaniel mentioned he would let the method play out.
Nonetheless, he was on edge, able to defend his gamers.
“That is an excessive amount of below the highlight to get swept below the rug,” McDaniel mentioned.
–Subject Stage Media
