Kareem Hunt investigation How the NFL failed under its own p

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Kareem Hunt investigation How the NFL failed under its own p

(Editor's note: This story wasupdated from its orginal version afterthe on Feb. 11, 2019. Hunt remains under investigation by the NFL.)

The video changed everything. Again.

Kareem Hunt, the 23-year-old running back who had rushed for 824 yards and seven touchdowns in 11 games for the Chiefs this season, suddenly was released by Kansas City in December hours after TMZ of a February 2018 incident in which Hunt shoved and kicked a woman, 19-year-old Abigail Ottinger, at a Cleveland hotel. Despite animmediate NFL investigationinto the incident, Hunt hasnot been disciplined by the league. He was placed on the Commi sioner Exempt Listbefore Kansas City released him Dec. 5 ... again, after the video had Michael Wacha Jersey been released, nine months after the incident.

STEELE:

Which raises fair questions about the NFL's investigation, , and its policy on such a sault-related incidents.

"Actual or threatened physical violence against another person" is included as prohibited conduct under . Hunt clearly engaged in conduct that violates the policy and is subject to discipline. Yet because that fact was onlyacknowledgedupon the release of thesurveillance footage, many are comparing the NFL's handling Tyler O'Neill Jersey of the Hunt incident to the me s it created with its handling of the Ray Rice incident in 2014.

As it did then with Rice, the league in the Hunt case came off as pa sive in its investigation until the video was released.

To provide some clarity on the NFL's personal conduct policy and how it relates to the Hunt situation, SN combed through the policy and plucked relevant lines. Below is what the policy states, and what the NFL did.

MORE HUNT:

Detrimental conduct

What the policy states: "Players convicted of a crime or subject to a disposition of a criminal proceeding are subject to discipline. But even if the conduct does not result in a criminal conviction, players found to have engaged in any of the following conductwill be subject to discipline."

What the NFL did:

Even though no charges were filed and no arrests were made as a result of the Hunt incident in February, the NFL claims it immediately launched an investigation into the matter once it was made known.

However, evidently based on the early findings of that investigation, the NFL had chosen not to enforcediscipline withHunt. That changed when the video of the incident was released by TMZ on Friday, as the league quickly placed Hunt on the Commi sioner Exempt List.

A league statement i sued Sunday reinforced the fact that discipline for Hunt remains on the table.

"The NFL's investigation began immediately following the incident in February,"the statement read. "Consistent with standard investigatory practices, the NFL continues to pursue a complete understanding of the facts. The NFL's ongoing investigation will include further attempts to speak to the complainants involved in the incident. It will include a review of the new information that was made public on Friday which was not available to the NFL previously as well as further conversations with all parties involved in the incident."

NFL investigations

What the policy states: "Whenever the league office becomes aware of a po sible Matt Wieters Jersey violation of the personal conduct policy, it will undertake an investigation, the timing and scope of which will be based upon the particular circumstances of the matter. Any such investigation may be conducted by NFL security, independent parties, or by a combination of the two. ... In investigating a potential violation, the league may rely on information obtained by law enforcement agencies, court records, or independent investigations conducted at the direction of the NFL."

What the NFL did:

This line in the NFL's personal conduct policy "the timing and scope of which will be based upon the particular circumstances of the matter" is what makes it arbitrary and, therefore, often me sy. Simply put: If the league does notthink it needs to investigate an incident extensively, or it simply does not want to do so, it will not.

With Lou Brock Jersey good reason, some have pointed out the exhaustiveextent to which the league investigated the Patriots Deflategate scandal involving Tom Brady in 2015. Likewise, the league's investigation into an incident involving Ezekiel Elliott in 2016 took more than a year and utilized multiple independent advisors. Both investigations resulted in suspensions.

Based on reports, the league's investigation into the Hunt incident had not come close to such an extent before Friday's video release.

As NFL didn't interview Kareem Hunt about hitting a woman, recall Mike Shannon Jersey how NFL reacted to Deflategate: (1) hired a small army of attorneys who spent many billable hours interviewing 66 witne ses writing a 139-page report; (2) hired Exponent for experiments 82-page science report.

Michael McCann (@McCannSportsLaw)

Per multiple reports, the NFL contacted the Chiefs after the team had spoken with Hunt about the incident, but the league did not ask to speak with Hunt directly. In an ESPN interview Dec. 2, Hunt the NFL had never requested to speak with him as part ofits investigation.

The league to contact Ottinger and her friendbut did not receive a response. Likewise, according to multiple reports, the NFL attempted to obtain the video of the incident from both the hotel and the Cleveland Police Department. Per its policy, the hotel would only give surveillance video to law enforcement, and a Cleveland PD spokesperson that nobody within the department had viewed the video because "detectives only follow up on felonies. This is Lance Lynn Jersey a misdemeanor."

that the NFL felt it did "everything po sible from a legal standpoint" in its investigation into the incident.

What remains unclear is why the NFL did not push harder to obtain the video TMZ ended up releasing to the public. The police report noted that surveillance footage of the incident existed, and the league reportedly reviewed the police report in its investigation. Further, , the NFLadvised the Chiefs to stop their pursuit of the video.

As Pro Football Talk's Mike Florio , "the real question is what, if anything, the league said to the Cleveland Police Department to impre s upon it the fact that the hotel wont give the video to anyone but law enforcement and that the NFL is trying to enforce its own internal laws, but that the NFL cant without cooperation from law enforcement."

Perhaps the "circumstances of the matter"did not warrant that kind of "scope"in the eyes of the NFL.

Commi sioner Exempt List

What the policy states: "In cases in which a violation relating to a crime of violence is suspected but fu

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