The Tragedy of Tyreek Hill – Will THIS Cheetah Be Able to Change His Spots?

The enduring stories of Greek mythology and ancient Greek theatre were largely based on one of two foundational elements, they were either stories of heroic deeds and glory, or they were of the “Greek Tragedy” variety, which featured a main character who suffers a dramatic downfall and reversal of fortune, either by the hand of the fate, or due to their own flaws, or both (also known by a word of Greek origin, peripeteia).

The story of Tyreek Hill has become just that, a Greek tragedy.

Not many people on the planet are gifted with the blessings of innate physical skills (speed, strength and twitch in Tyreek’s case) which we’ve all seen #10 bring to full bloom on a football field many times. The announcer screaming, “He’s got Hill! …He’s got Hill!,” was music to the ears of every long-suffering Dolphins fan during his first two years with the team as Tua delivered bomb after bomb.

As for Tyreek, the world was his oyster.

He flirted with 2000 yards in each of those first two seasons, proved he didn’t need Patrick Maholmes to succeed, and helped guide the team to the playoffs twice during that time. The icing on the cake was that his 2023 performance saw him selected by his football peers and fans alike as the #1 player in the whole league.

Top of the world, right?

That’s exactly when Greek tragedies start to take shape.

The Trouble Begins

The offseason started, and throughout it was filled with bad news about Tyreek. And this is after he had already weathered a public-relations storm when a story emerged about him slapping a marina employee in June of ‘23 at Haulover Marina in Miami (with TMZ video and all). That incident occurred after Hill and his entourage tried to board a boat without permission and the captain told them they could not be on the boat. No charges were filed, and it got swept under the rug.

But now there were rumors of multiple children he fathered out of wedlock coming out (two of which have since filed legal petitions). He had gotten married to Keeta Vaccaro in November of ‘23. They had been dating since January of ‘21 and got engaged in June that year. The connect-the-dots to infidelity did not sit well with many fans. I can’t imagine Keeta was too thrilled either. Probably stemming from that whole fiasco (just my presumption), there was a mysterious divorce filing by Tyreek in January of 2024. He initially denied making the filing and claimed it was a mistake, but court records confirm he did indeed file for that divorce, even though he later had the petition dismissed.

Do you feel his fortunes reversing yet?

But the offseason bad news did not stop there.

Also in January of ’24, Tyreek’s kids were apparently playing with a lighter in his south Florida mansion and caused a substantial fire, causing significant damage. There were fans grumbling about his parenting and it was simply another black eye.

Then things got really weird. According to a lawsuit filed in February of ’24, Tyreek was alleged to have broken the leg of social media influencer and plus-size model Sophie Hall. She had brought her son to a football camp at his home in June of 2023, and apparently embarrassed him in a blocking drill. The petition alleges he lost his temper when everyone started laughing after she bested him and he “charged into her violently” after reversing their roles to prove something. She alleges in the petition that she suffered a spiral fracture to her leg, but to take the incident to a whole other level in the lewd and lascivious realm, she also claims Tyreek had sex with her afterwards to console her. There were now even more dots to connect, and more disgusted fans.

Finally, the 2024 season was at hand. The Dolphins brass could do little more than hope Tyreek would make everyone forget about everything with his play. Because as the old adage goes in the NFL, winning cures everything.

But the public relations pummelling was not even close to over, the 2024 in-season version was just getting started.

The Arrest

Shortly before their home opener against the Jacksonville Jaguars was set to start, Tyreek was stopped by police just outside the stadium. What ensued was fully captured on body-cam video and has since been released to the public.

The video showed the officer tapping on the window of the black sports car Hill was driving and asking him why he didn’t have his seatbelt on. He rolled down his window, apparently incensed that the officer dared to tap on his window with his knuckle, repeatedly saying, “why you gotta knock on my window like that, don’t knock on my window like that,” with the cop asking him a few times why he didn’t have his seat belt on. Hill eventually gave his license to the cop saying, “Gimme my ticket bro, so I can go. I’m going to be late. Do what you gotta do.”  But then he rolled up his window again. The officer repeatedly told him to roll it down so he could talk to him, but Hill refused. After numerous attempts, the officer had enough. Fed up with Hill’s non-compliance, he said, “keep your window down or I’m going to get you out of the car …  as a matter of fact, get out of the car.”

While this whole scene most likely could have been entirely avoided if Tyreek had simply rolled down his window and talked calmly with the officer, it did not play out that way. Right after he told him to get out of the car, he popped open the door and forced Hill to the ground.

Now don’t get me wrong, both sides here were wrong in my eyes. While Tyreek should have followed the officer’s orders, the ensuing arrest was a textbook case of excessive force for a minor infraction on law enforcement’s part. He threw him to the ground, cuffed him, and dragged him up on the curb, where another officer forcibly sat him down a couple of times when he tried to stand up, with Hill complaining he had just had surgery on his knee. Now bear in mind, this is all playing out right in front of the stadium, for not only fans to see, but also teammates on their way to the stadium. Calais Campbell, an NFL Man of the Year winner, saw what was happening and tried to come to the aid of his teammate. He ended up getting temporarily cuffed for his efforts. Jonnu Smith also stopped and tried to help, almost getting arrested himself when he refused to leave the scene after being told to do so by the gaggle of officers now involved.

It was a monumentally ugly scene unfolding right in front of Hard Rock, with kick-off quickly approaching.

When the smoke all cleared, Hill was released and sent on his way, most likely after a not-so-friendly call between officers on the scene and Dolphins security.

Hill finally made it to the field for the home opener.

Social media was ablaze about the arrest, with more national coverage than the game itself.

But Tyreek managed to take back the spotlight. With just over 2 minutes to play in the 3^rd quarter, Tua found Hill on the sideline, where he then exploded toward the endzone, leaving would-be tacklers grasping at the air where he used to be, all while deftly toeing the sideline by inches as he raced upfield and staying inbounds the whole way. TOUCHDOWN!

Then he did what Tyreek does, he showboated. Playing off of his arrest earlier, when he got in the endzone he put both hands behind his back like he was cuffed. Then Jaylen Waddle ran up to him and unlocked the imaginary cuffs. The Dolphins won that game. Hill finished with 130 yards on 7 receptions and that touchdown, and Sportscenter had a new clip to show from that day.

Dolphins fans everywhere thought, Tyreek’s Back!

But Tua was destined to go down for a month due to a concussion he suffered the next week against the Bills while trying to make a play by running through safety Damar Hamlin head first (you remember Damar, he left the NFL in shock during a January game in 2023 when he temporarily “died” on the field after a vicious hit, that just drips with irony doesn’t it).

Going down?

Then the downfall started. Hill did not record another touchdown until week 10 against the Rams and only had 2 more 100+ yard games for the season, week 14 against the Jets, and week 17 against the Browns.  And for the first time since 2019 when he only played 12 games, he did not have over 1000 yards for the season. The only other time that happened since his NFL career started was his rookie year, when he was mainly used as a return specialist.

Then Hill’s “tragedy” hit a new level, and his future with the Dolphins became a huge question mark. And social media fanned the flames like a raging California wildfire in high winds.

Tua had managed to lead the Dolphins back into the playoff conversation, and during the last game of the season against Aaron Rogers and the Jets, there was still a chance … but they needed help. It was not a complicated formula.  They had to win, and the Broncos had to beat the Chiefs (who were sitting all their starters since they had already locked their playoff seed).

The Chief’s backups were pummelled from the start. By halftime, the Broncos were up 24 to nothing, and the scoreboard operators at MetLife stadium were more than happy to keep the score up on their big screens to sap the will from the visiting Dolphins. Apparently, it worked, especially on Hill.

With their playoff chances effectively dead, Hill walked off the field in the third quarter with Miami down 18 to 6. That’s when cameras caught Jaylen Waddle looking at the sideline and yelling, “Hey Cheetah, you done?” with a tone of disbelief.

Indeed, he was.

He had committed the ultimate betrayal in team sports – he quit on his team.

But Hill was not digging himself an even deeper hole.

During post-game interviews, Hill was in front of a microphone and uttered the words which would instantly topple his hero status as a Dolphin. When asked about his future after missing the playoffs for the first time in his career, he said, “I’m opening the door. I’m out bro. It was great playing here, but at the end of the day I got to do what’s best for my career. Because I’m too much of a competitor to be just…out there.” Then the reporter, Chris Perkins of the Sun Sentinel, asked the follow up, “Does that mean you’re thinking about leaving here?” Then two words popped out of his month before he caught himself and tried to backpedal, “Every Day!” But everyone watching heard it.

After that it was like pee in a swimming pool, once it’s in, you can’t get it out.

The tragedy of Tyreek Hill was gaining speed like a runaway train. Fans were upset, disgusted, and swarming social media with calls for his trade or outright release. But thanks to the Dolphins restructuring his contract in the offseason to put more guaranteed money in his pocket and keep him happy ($11.4 million worth for ‘25), both of those scenarios became unlikely if not impossible. So unless some desperate team thinking they are a cheetah away from contention antes up and makes a monumental offer to acquire him, Hill is going to be a Dolphin next year.

But Hill knew he screwed up and knew he had to try to get the fans, his teammates, and the whole organization back on his side. When the Super Bowl rolled around, he made the rounds at media row, publicly apologizing to everyone (with a direct apology to Tua by name) and saying it was all out of frustration. He said he loves Miami, and so do his kids, and he WANTS to be a Dolphin.

It helped, but it certainly did not change everyone’s mind about him. News shows, podcasters, and social media posters relentlessly kept at it, and many still do.

Just be quiet!

But Hill being Hill, he could not just keep quiet and let the storm blow over. He made cryptic posts on social media “liking” other posts about trade scenarios to other teams. Then he sent tongues wagging again when he was asked for his list of the top five quarterbacks in the NFL and left his own quarterback off, instead, choosing to go with the likes of Baker Mayfield. There were a few more minor niggles, like a since-called-off race against Noah Lyles Mike McDaniel had to deal with during a recent presser (sorry Tyreek, official times don’t lie, you don’t have a shot), and him saying he wasn’t as prepared as he should have been last year and that he’s putting in all the extra work to be better this year (fans nor teammates want to hear he wasn’t all in last year). There’s an old expression Tyreek should take heed of, “It is better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak and remove all doubt.” I think it would serve him well.

The offseason storm, however, was not over. There was also a bizarre event in April which saw police respond to his home for a domestic disturbance after his mother-in-law called police and told them he was being violent and threatening towards her daughter and had already smashed a laptop on the floor. And like with his arrest fiasco at the stadium, there was video later released. It showed him walking on the balcony of his high-rise condo with his baby in his arms. To me it did not look threatening, it was not like he was dangling the baby over the rail or anything, but that’s how many in the media portrayed it. But his wife has since filed for divorce.

And here we are

That brings us to the here and now.

Tyreek is not doomed to suffer the fate of a Greek Tragedy, because his story is not over. As with all of us, the opportunity for redemption remains alive until the story ends. But it will take work, results, and for heaven’s sake, he needs to stop adding fuel to the fire with any more negative stories. He says he’s changed his ways, he’s getting therapy, and going to church more.

He can turn this back into a story of heroics and glory, but only if he has the unyielding will, desire, and fortitude to do so.

As a rule, cheetahs cannot change their spots, but will THIS cheetah be the exception that proves the rule?

Only time will tell.