With authorities in Kansas unwilling to charge anyone with injuring the three-year-old son of Chiefs receiver Tyreek Hill, even though they believe that someone committed a crime against him, the NFL has both a challenge and an opportunity under the broad powers of its Personal Conduct Policy.
As previously mentioned, the Fifth Amendment doesn’t apply to the NFL’s investigation regarding the situation, giving the league the ability to tell Hill in no uncertain terms that he’ll either cooperate with the effort to crack the case, or he won’t be permitted to work. It’s his choice; provide the information necessary to allow the perpetrator to be identified and prosecuted, or forfeit the privilege of playing in the NFL until he does.
Any evidence generated by the league in connection with its own investigation can then be used by prosecutors, who made it clear on Wednesday that the case can and will be reopened if the proof justifies it, with a five-year statute of limitations applicable to any eventual charges.
It’s possible that Hill truly knows nothing. If his story is credible and can be corroborated, so be it. If his story isn’t believable, the league has the power to conclude that he’s responsible for the injury within the context of the Personal Conduct Policy, and to impose appropriate discipline. Regardless, the ultimate leverage for the league comes from its ability to tell Hill that he will provide full, complete, and meaningful information leading to a conviction (unless he truly doesn’t know anything), or he will not play football until he does.
For more, here’s Wednesday’s #PFTPM, which was recorded immediately after Wednesday’s press conference announcing the prosecutor’s conclusion that a crime had been committed, but that no one would be charged with a crime. Given that the end result, barring the NFL’s intervention, is that a three-year-old will not get the justice he deserves, I was a little upset about the situation.
Many others surely feel the same way, and the league and the Chiefs may soon be feeling plenty of pressure to take action regarding a crime that will lead to no punishment if the parties responsible for the care and safety of a three-year-old child continue to successfully stonewall the authorities. While the team’s only real option is to cut Hill, the league can ensure that Hill will play for neither the Chiefs nor anyone else until someone assumes responsibility for the injury inflicted on a three-year-old boy.