The Kansas City Chiefs were forced to make moves with key players getting injured early in the 2024 NFL season. Their latest addition was running back Kareem Hunt, a decision that drew strong support from head coach Andy Reid and quarterback Patrick Mahomes.
“Yeah I mean, obviously, Kareem was a close friend of mine while he was here,” Mahomes said Wednesday, via Arrowhead Report on SI.com. “Just being in the same draft class and everything like that. He came to my wedding. Obviously he went to Cleveland, had a good career there, has learned and become a better person and I’m glad to have him back now. Let’s get him accustomed to the offense and see how fast we can get him out there.”
Reid, meanwhile, also looked happy to have Hunt back during his media session: “We’ll get him in here and get some work, kind of get him back in the swing of playing and then we’ll just see. As the game gets closer, we’ll see how things go there and so on, but we’ll try to get him in a position where he’s ready to play either this week, next week, or the following week.”
Hunt’s return to Kansas City comes after Isiah Pacheco fractured his fibula against the Cincinnati Bengals on Sunday, an injury that leaves Mahomes without his primary running back for at least four weeks as Pacheco was placed on Injured Reserve.
Kareem Hunt #27 of the Kansas City Chiefs takes a hand off from Patrick Mahomes #15 in their own end zone during the second quarter of the game against the Jacksonville Jaguars at Arrowhead Stadium on October 7, 2018 in Kansas City, Missouri.
The decision to bring back Hunt raised eyebrows as the team released him in November 2018 after a video of the player attacking a woman surfaced during his second year at Arrowhead. But both Reid and Mahomes made it clear they believe Hunt deserves this second chance from the Chiefs.
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Mahomes fully supports Chiefs bringing Hunt back
“Everybody has friends that make mistakes,” Mahomes said. “Obviously, some are bigger than others but at the same time, you want to make the person better. You want to see them taking the right steps to become a better person for themselves, for their family and the rest of society. I think you’ve seen that with Kareem. I’ve stayed in touch with him just to see how he’s doing, how his family is doing and everything like that. He’s been able to carve out a great career in the NFL, but you’ve seen he’s been able to keep his nose clean and be a better person. That’s what you want in order to make everybody better people.”
Mahomes and Hunt were part of the same draft class in 2017. While the former was selected by the Chiefs with the 10th overall pick, the latter was drafted 86th overall in the first round.
The quarterback had to wait until his second year to start, whereas the running back already got playing time in his rookie season. After being cut during his second year at Arrowhead in 2018, Hunt admitted making mistakes and not being completely honest with the Chiefs about the incident that led to his release.
“At the end of the day, man, I just root for the person to keep becoming a better and better person,” Mahomes said. “The football’s secondary, but I’m glad to have him back and in the building. I gave him a high-five and a hug when I saw him, because it’s a person I used to spend a lot of time with a long time ago.”
Patrick Mahomes #15 of the Kansas City Chiefs talks with head coach Andy Reid before Super Bowl LVIII against the San Francisco 49ers at Allegiant Stadium on February 11, 2024 in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Reid believes Hunt deserves return to Chiefs
After his controversial departure from the Chiefs, Hunt went on to play for the Cleveland Browns from 2019 to 2023. Just like Mahomes, Reid believes the running back grew as a person during this time.
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“It’s really what we told him and [said] publicly, we just thought he needed a change of scenery and to get some help and take care of business there,” Reid said. “And we felt like he did that. He did a nice job in Cleveland and we talked to the people there and there were no issues there, so we felt OK about bringing him back. He’s 29 years old now, so time flies, but he’s 29 years old. It looks like he’s grown up some.
“Well, just calling around to make sure that things were OK,” Reid said. “Pat [Patrick Mahomes] stayed good friends with him, he was at Pat’s wedding, and those two came out in the same class and developed a friendship here, and then their general manager spoke highliy of him, coaches and so on, so we felt good about it.”
Reid, however, did warn Hunt that he must prove himself worthy of this second chance: “Just make sure that [you] keep your nose clean, right? That’s the important part, and go play football. I think people deserve a second chance if they’ve done something to work on the first part of it.”
