Miami Dolphins wide receiver Tyreek Hill speaks during an NFL football post game news conference, Sunday, Sept. 8, 2024, in Miami Gardens, Fla. The Dolphins defeated the Jaguars 20-17.
Rebecca Blackwell/AP
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Rebecca Blackwell/AP
A Miami-Dade police officer has been placed on administrative leave after Miami Dolphins wide receiver Tyreek Hill was handcuffed and detained by police Sunday, hours before the team played against the Jacksonville Jaguars.
Video circulating online appears to show four officers surrounding Hill as he is in handcuffs. Hill is lying on the ground while one of the officers has a knee on his back. Another video shows an officer approaching Hill quickly and Hill falling to the ground, though the view is partially obstructed.
Hill was pulled over about one block from the Hard Rock Stadium, where the Dolphins play, according to the team. He received a citation for reckless driving and driving without a license, said Drew Rosenhaus, Hill’s agent.
After the game, Hill put a positive spin on the incident.
“Obviously, everybody has bad apples in every situation, so I want to be able to use this platform to figure out a way to flip this and make it a positive on both ends — on my end, and then also Miami-Dade — so that way we can team together and do something positive for the community, cause that’s what it’s all about,” he said in a postgame interview. Hill added that he has respect for police officers and wants to be one someday.
Hill said he still does not know why he was placed in handcuffs.
“I’m not going to give you a version that I still don’t know what happened,” he said. “But I do want to be able to use this platform to say, ‘What if I wasn’t Tyreek Hill?’”
He added, “I wasn’t disrespectful ‘cause my mom didn’t raise me that way. Didn’t cuss, didn’t do none of that.”
The Miami-Dade police department will be reviewing body camera footage of the incident, Director Stephanie Daniels said on X.
“I’m committed to transparency and accountability to the community with any situation involving my officers,” she said.
Hill said he felt alone in the moment and was fortunate that his teammates, Calais Campbell and Jonnu Smith, showed up and tried to deescalate the situation.
Campbell, a defensive tackle, said he was driving to the stadium and saw Hill in handcuffs. When he got out of his car to intervene, he was handcuffed as well, he said.
“I didn’t understand what the issue was, but for him to put handcuffs on me, I felt some kind of way. But that just goes to show you our resilience, though,” Campbell said. “We didn’t let that stop us, we just got back in line, got focused again, and went out there and played a good football game. But that definitely was a interesting way to start a ball game.”
The Dolphins went on to defeat the Jaguars 20-17. Hill finished with seven catches and 130 yards. After an 80-yard touchdown reception, Hill appeared to pretend to be handcuffed during an endzone celebration.
