Miami Dolphins wide receiver Tyreek Hill told CNN that he is still reeling from being detained by police on Sunday as he drove to Hard Rock Stadium for the first game of the NFL season, saying he’s still shocked it happened.
In their first interview after police released body camera footage of the incident, Hill and his attorney joined CNN’s Kaitlan Collins, and Hill shared that he was still processing what happened. Video of the incident shows police pulling Hill from his car and forcing him to the ground on multiple occasions after pulling him over for a moving violation.
“I was shocked. It was crazy because it all happened so fast. Like for me, it just all happened so fast and I really couldn’t like gather everything that was happening,” Hill said on “The Source.”
“I wasn’t moving fast because you know I got injuries, I got things that I go through. I play a physical sport, I’ve been doing this for a moment now man so I’m dealing with some stuff, so I guess the officers they felt like I wasn’t doing it on their timing,” he added. “I was doing it but I’m still kind of shell shocked from it. I’m embarrassed.”
On Monday, the South Florida Police Benevolent Association defended the actions of the officers involved, highlighting that Hill was never placed under arrest. The association said Hill was not cooperative and that officers were working in the interest of their own safety.
Hill disputed the police union’s account of what happened saying that he had handed over his identification but just didn’t want to keep his window rolled down as fans drove past him to the game.
“I let my window down, cooperated, gave them my I.D. Then I immediately let up my window, and then after that I let back up my window and then he came back to the window and was like ‘let your window down now, let your window down now’ and then I let it down,” Hill said. “And that’s when he said, ‘If you don’t let your window down, I’m going to snatch you out your car.’ I was like, sir my window is down, like what do you want?”
“I’m not trying to cause a scene because A – if I let my window down, people walking by, driving by they’re going to notice that it’s me and they’re going to start taking pictures. I didn’t want to create a scene at all, I just really wanted to get the ticket and then just go out about my way.”
Hill has suffered leg injuries in recent years and told police during the traffic stop that he had just had knee surgery. The wide receiver told Collins that it can be difficult for him to get out of his car quickly, which police may have interpreted as insubordination.
“I was fixing to get out my car because they told me to get out. I was getting out my car, but the way that my car is made, there’s like a dip inside my McLaren,” he said.
In an earlier interview with NBC, Hill acknowledged that he may have been speeding.
When asked if he thought he was speeding, Hill said, “I have no idea, I have no idea. But I wasn’t going like 80 or 70 or 60… It’s surprising to me that I got pulled over.”
The Dolphins star recalled a couple of his teammates coming to help de-escalate the situation.
“When I saw Jonnu and Calais pull up … I didn’t feel alone anymore,” Hill said, according to NBC. “They ended up handcuffing Calais for just being 6-8 I think. But it was crazy. It was crazy how that same officer who took me down handcuffed Calais for just standing on the side.”
Hill said he is trying not to think about what might have happened to him if he weren’t a famous football player.
“If I wasn’t Tyreek Hill, worst-case scenario, we would’ve had a different article. Tyreek Hill got shot in front of Hard Rock Stadium, that’s worst-case scenario,” Hill said. “It’s crazy that me and my family had to go through this.”
Hill scored an 80-yard touchdown in Miami’s 20-17 victory against the Jaguars on Sunday, celebrating by putting his arms behind his back with his wrists together – perhaps alluding to being in handcuffs earlier Sunday.
“You got to learn how to laugh and have a good time,” Hill said. “Man, whenever people think you’re … having a bad situation or having a low moment, I always try to find the good in every situation. That’s one way I’m able to stay so strong minded as a young male, well as a young Black male.”
Head coach says it’s hard not to be upset on Hill’s behalf
Earlier on Monday, Dolphins head coach Mike McDaniel shared his thoughts on the situation.
“It’s been hard for me to not find myself more upset the more I think about it,” McDaniel said at a press conference.
“And that’s because of my teammates and trying to put myself in that situation that they described emotionally, and then knowing more than that the thing that f**ks me up, honestly, is knowing that I don’t know exactly what that feels like.”
“I do think that it’s supremely important to wait for information to be gathered before any rush to judgement, but regardless I know that the feelings expressed to me are unsettling,” McDaniel added.
“But two things did come from the adversity. I’m super proud of teammates being teammates, and super proud of our guys understanding the civic responsibility of a platform and intending to do right by it.”
McDaniel was asked about the police delaying the release of body camera footage of the incident, citing “an open/active Internal Affairs Investigation on the matter.”
“I think for anyone to have an opinion if there are facts, they should have facts before they have an opinion,” McDaniel answered.
“I am confident everything will get reviewed. I’m confident this is too much in the spotlight to sweep under the rug, so I feel like what I don’t know now it’s not my time to know.
“But I think facts supersede everything so I think it’s important for people to allow a fair process for all information to get distributed.”
The Dolphins coach said with a home game Thursday night, the team’s short week might prove to be “therapeutic” for the players.
“There’s a lot of very constructive things to think about, and sometimes that can be our greatest gift is that gift of supreme distraction,” McDaniel said.
“I don’t know about this particular situation, but there’s just been innumerable times of things happening in all ways, shapes and forms to players and they find comfort in the process and the commitment to each other and the team.”
The Dolphins will face the division rival Bills at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens at 8:15 p.m. ET Thursday night.
This story and its headline has been updated with additional reporting.
