Tyreek Hill Publicly Apologises to Tua Tagovailoa & Dolphins For His Outburst After Missing the NFL Playoffs

Every NFL player’s goal is to make the postseason. When it becomes clear that they won’t meet that goal, it can be frustrating—a lot more for some than others. One of the stars who took it especially hard was Miami Dolphins wide receiver Tyreek Hill, who essentially said he wanted to leave the team after a Week 18 loss to the lowly New York Jets. Now, Cheetah is trying to walk back his harsh comments.

Hill said “I’m out”, in the locker room after the loss. He exacerbated the situation by changing his profile picture on Twitter to an image of Antonio Brown’s notorious shirtless, mid-game exit from the Tampa Bay Buccaneers a few years ago. In the end, cooler heads prevailed, and Hill apologized to the team and specifically QB Tua Tagovailoa, who caught the brunt of Hill’s criticism during the 2024 campaign.

“Tua, he’s my guy, always will be my guy, no matter what. I’m sure he understands my frustration, we all wanna win, Tua he’s another competitor, he’s a helluva competitor, a lot of people don’t know that. He’s a winner, he’s consistent, so I’m looking forward to us continuing to build our relationship even more. This is my public apology to you Tua, I love you bro,” Hill claimed on Up & Adams show.

When you think about the context, you can understand why someone like Hill, who has been a serial winner in the league, was frustrated by Miami’s lack of urgency in that final game. 2024 was Hill’s 9th year in the NFL. But, it was the first time that the speedster’s team didn’t qualify for the playoffs.

Still, that doesn’t excuse his comments. But, it can help to understand the head space he was in when he made those comments. Athletes are never more jacked up and ready to offer a negative sound bite than in the locker room after a loss in a meaningful game.

In the end, General Manager Chris Grier confirmed that Hill had never officially asked to be traded. The WR said that not only does his family love southern Florida, but that he likes the Dolphins’ chances at contending over the next few years, and he’s not going “nowhere”.

“I do [want to be a Miami Dolphin]. I do, I don’t wanna go nowhere. I love it, my family loves it, the kids absolutely love being on the beach every morning. We’re really building something special in Miami. We made the playoffs the first two years, obviously this year was hard. If guys continue to buy in into what coach is building and the culture he’s trying to build, it’s going to be a beautiful thing.”

Tyreek Hill said he believes in the project on South Beach. However, the 2025 offseason is going to be a tough one to navigate. They pick No. 13 in the first round, which is not ideal considering they didn’t even make the playoffs. Grier also has his work cut out for him ahead of the draft, with the Fins going into the 2025 offseason in the red. As of this writing, they boast the 5th-fewest cap space at just over -$11.6 million.