Chiefs Owner Clark Hunt 'Deeply Disturbed' by Audio Discussing Tyreek Hill Abuse

Kansas City Chiefs owner Clark Hunt said Saturday that he is "deeply disturbed" by the recently released audio in which wide receiver Tyreek Hill and Crystal Espinal, his fiancee, argued over allegations that Hill physically abused his three-year-old son.

According to Brooke Pryor of the Kansas City Star (h/t Pro Football Talk's Darin Gantt), Hunt suggested that the organization is taking a wait-and-see approach with Hill: "I'd just point out that Tyreek is not with the franchise right now and we're going to go through the process, and as [general manager] Brett [Veach] said, we'll make the right decision about Tyreek at the right time."

Amid an investigation, the Chiefs have indefinitely banned Hill from taking part in all team-related activities.

Per Steve Vockrodt and Pryor of the Star, police went to the Kansas City-area residence shared by Hill and Espinal twice in March to check on the welfare of their son. A source told Vockrodt and Pryor that the child suffered a broken arm.

In audio released by KCTV 5, Espinal told Hill that their son said Hill was responsible for his injury. Hill did not admit to having any involvement:

"'Why did he say daddy did it? Why did he say daddy did it?'" Espinal asked.

"'He says daddy does a lot of things,'" Hill replied.

"'A 3-year-old is not going to lie about what happened to his arm,'" Espinal said. "'Daddy did it. He is terrified of you.'"

"'You need to be terrified of me, too, b---h,'" Hill said."

Before Hill was selected by the Chiefs in the fifth round of the 2016 NFL draft, he was dismissed from Oklahoma State after being charged with domestic battery against Espinal in December 2014, which he later pleaded guilty to.

Hill was charged after choking and punching Espinal in the stomach while she was pregnant. He paid a $1,000 fine, attended anger management and domestic abuse courses and spent two years on probation as part of his plea agreement.

On Saturday, Hunt discussed his approach to drafting players with off-field issues:

"I think on any player that you bring into the organization, there's some element of risk. Could be his playing ability, could be things that distract him off the field, as well as trouble they get into. That's a risk that you take. It's something that as a franchise, we have to be willing to own when it doesn't go the right way. It's something that I believe, and it's something that Brett believes as well."

Hill is among the NFL's most electric playmakers, with three Pro Bowl nods as a wideout and return man. In 2018, he set career highs with 87 receptions for 1,479 yards and 12 touchdowns.

Last season, the Chiefs released Pro Bowl running back Kareem Hunt after the release of video showing him pushing and kicking a woman at a hotel.

Johnson County District Attorney Steve Howe declined to press charges against Hill or Espinal on Wednesday, saying, "We believe a crime has occurred, however, the evidence in this case does not conclusively establish who committed this crime," per Dave Skretta of the Associated Press.

The audio was released after Howe's announcement.