Back in 2018, 23-year-old Kareem Hunt’s life took an ugly turn when footage emerged of him shoving and kicking a woman in a hallway. Adding to the controversy was Kareem’s dishonesty about the incident with his team, the Chiefs, which led to his placement on the NFL’s commissioner’s exempt list. Given the ugly breakup, few expected Hunt to get another chance in Kansas City, but that has changed this year. And apparently, he has only shown positive signs of change since his return, as revealed by Patrick Mahomes.
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The Chiefs shocked us all by signing the RB after Week 5 as a backup to Isiah Pacheco. Since then, he has racked up score after score, even one being a game-sealer TD against the Texans in the Divisional Round.
Hunt’s resurgence has been an inspiring and feel-good story for everyone in the Chiefs kingdom, including Mahomes. The star quarterback expressed his delight in seeing the RB learn from his past mistakes on the latest episode of The Drive.
“The passion that he has played with [shows] how he is truly embracing the second opportunity that he has in Kansas City and how the fans have embraced him. He has learned from his past mistakes and he wants to showcase how much he appreciates the fans and how they have been behind him since he came back and been a part of the Chiefs kingdom.”
Noting the animated TD celebration against the Texans recently, the Chiefs quarterback revealed that Hunt’s passion stems from the love fans have showered him this season. Mahomes added that this support has fueled Kareem to give his all on the field.
Thankfully for Kareem, his efforts this season have borne results. During the seven-week stretch when Hunt started in place of Isiah Pacheco, the Chiefs impressively ranked second in the league for rushing.
However, once Pacheco returned, the Chiefs’ rushing rank plummeted to 30th. While Kareem has yet to secure a starting role under Andy Reid, the RB continues to make a strong case with his impactful cameos.
According to Mahomes, the biggest reason for Kareem’s stellar performance has been his proactiveness. Mahomes noted that Kareem Hunt “always falls forward,” giving the playmaker more options to work with. However, for the QB, it’s Kareem’s vision that stands out. Per Mahomes, the RB has a great knack for finding small pockets of space, something many attackers often fail to do.
Keeping all this in mind, Patrick didn’t shy away from expressing that Hunt has had a positive impact on the locker room so far. The QB also shared his hope to win the Super Bowl this year to help Hunt make up for the all rings he missed.
“So for him to be able to score that TD in the playoffs, a big TD and help us win a playoff football game had so much positive impact on the team… I know he wants to make a positive impact on the team and hopefully, we can go on a run and give him another chance at winning the Super Bowl.”
Notably, while Hunt initially wasn’t transparent about the incident with the Chiefs, he later publicly admitted how Kansas City was right to part ways with him. Since then, the RB has publicly been apologetic about the incident and rightfully maintained a low profile.
While we should never forget what he did, it does look like Kareem has learned from his mistakes. In a league where some infamous athletes fail to learn from their violent conduct, Kareem is a great role model to have.
