Owner Clark Hunt: Chiefs Were Aware of Kareem Hunt's 3 Incidents Before Release

Kansas City Chiefs owner Clark Hunt said the team was aware former running back Kareem Hunt was involved in three alleged acts of violence during the offseason but chose to keep him on the team. 

“We did know about that, yes, we were familiar with all three of the incidents that he had had in the offseason,” Clark Hunt told reporters Sunday. “They’d all been reported to the NFL, and the NFL was investigating them.”

Hunt said the TMZ video depicting Hunt shoving and kicking a woman led to his release. Hunt has admitted lying to the Chiefs about what transpired in February during an altercation at a Cleveland hotel.

“I don’t think we were necessarily trying to make a statement, we just felt that the best thing for the Kansas City Chiefs moving forward was for us to part ways with Kareem,” Hunt said. “We were obviously shocked by the video, like anybody who saw it, and we’d had some issues with Kareem not being truthful with what happened that night, and we just really felt for everybody’s best interests we needed to head in a different direction.”

The Chiefs released Hunt within hours of the tape being leaked. The 2017 Pro Bowler is receiving counseling, per Brooke Pryor of the Kansas City Star.

"It was just a long night," Hunt told ESPN's Lisa Salters. "To be exact, it don't really matter what happened. I was in the wrong. I could have took responsibility and made the right decision to find a way to de-escalate the situation."

Hunt said the NFL never interviewed him regarding the incident. The league later released a statement saying its investigation into the matter was ongoing. 

ESPN's report noted the league has not interviewed the woman in question.

Hunt's release is in ways similar to that of former Baltimore Ravens running back Ray Rice. In 2014, Rice was arrested along with his then-fiancee for a domestic disturbance at an Atlantic City casino. The Ravens initially stood by Rice before releasing him after TMZ leaked tape of him punching his now-wife, Janay Rice.

Rice has not played in the NFL since.

Hunt went unclaimed on waivers following his release by the Chiefs.