MIAMI GARDENS, FLA. (WSVN) – The detainment of Dolphins star Tyreek Hill by Miami-Dade Police attracted national attention and sparked discussions about social change and police brutality within the NFL community and beyond. Now, Hill and his teammates are aiming to utilize their platform for a greater purpose.
The body camera video of the traffic stop, released last Monday, following Sunday’s pre-game detainment, showed Officer Danny Torres pulling the Fins star from his car. He was handcuffed and placed face down on the ground.
Since then, the officer has received backlash after the public cited an excessive use of force. Torres has since been placed on administrative duties, but Hill has publicly called for his firing, admitting he could’ve done things differently. Nonetheless, he feels that this is a systemic problem in our country.
“Where I am from you know, you typically see that and you don’t hear about it because not everybody has the same resources as Tyreek Hill. Not everybody has the name Tyreek Hill or able to call a Drew Brooks or Drew Rosenhaus. So I am really like, unphased to it.” said Hill at a press conference. “That’s why I was able to go out and play the way I did because I’m numb to it. You know, it’s kind of expected.”
Hill’s teammates were deeply troubled by the treatment he received from the officers.
“It’s been a thing for a long time and unfortunately it still lingers, but like Tyreek said there are good police officers out there. I know police officers myself, but unfortunately, there are some people that just happened to get power drunk or take things to a level that doesn’t need to be taken there. At the end of the day, you just have to treat people with respect,” said Jevon Holland.
“I think we need to move forward and have some open discussions with local enforcement as well as players around here,” said Zach Sieler. “Hopefully everyone can take some responsibility from this, learn, and figure out a way to make this better, make a difference.
Although, some believe egos played a significant role, many feel the situation could have been avoided altogether, including social justice activists and author turned football coach, Tracy Martin.
“At no point did he appear to be a threat, so it definitely could’ve been handled a lot differently,” said Martin.
“We still haven’t learned our lesson when we talk about policing our communities, police brutality, how we are treated, as you know when we are stopped, and things of that nature. It’s a flashback of an everyday occurrence of what’s going on with Black and Brown young men and women,” said Martin.
Hill and his teammates remain committed to ensuring that incidents like last Sunday morning never happen again.
“I am in the process of putting together a good plan, so that way I can work with those guys[his teammates]. I think it’s good man. I think we should lean on each other,” said Hill.
“We’re going to talk about it internally and figure out what we can do to further resolve this issue because there’s an issue. If it wasn’t apparent to a lot of people before, it certainly is now,” said wide receiver, Braxton Berrios.
While social change won’t happen overnight, hopefully, everyone involved in the Tyreek Hill incident can learn and take the appropriate steps to make the community and beyond better.
Copyright 2024 Sunbeam Television Corp. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
