The first episode of Tyreek Hill‘s podcast stirred things up on multiple topics. In the second episode of Tyreek Hill’s podcast, Hill and his co-host tried to clean things up.
Right out of the gates in Season One, Episode Two of It Needed To Be Said, Hill and Julius Collins complained about the “snippets” of episode one that made the exact stir they wanted to create.
Free advice to anyone with a podcast. You either want people to watch and react to the things you say, or you don’t. But you don’t get to choose how people react. And the things that were said on the first episode of Hill’s podcast invited and encouraged reaction.
That said, some fans apparently went too far.
“I got death threats from every social media — every social media account I own, I got death threats on,” Hill said. “Which is ridiculous. Which I love it, you know?”
Hill never said why he loves it. Our guess, based on what he said and how he said it, is that he loves that his comments stirred things up, and that he doesn’t take the death threats seriously.
Collins specifically complained that some in the media directed a “shut up and play” attitude toward Hill. We didn’t notice that anywhere; “shut up and play” is the reaction by those who want athletes to not talk about other issues, primarily politics.
That said, it’s fair game for media to criticize Hill for what he says. To do that isn’t to tell him to “shut up and play.”
He has the right to offer up his opinion. And those who listen to his opinion have the right to react to his opinion. Isn’t that what Hill and Collins want? Reaction, engagement, interest, etc.?
It could be that Hill, like plenty of other athletes and celebrities, wants to be able to give his opinion and to have no one criticize his opinion, even if his opinion deserves to be criticized.
That’s not what it means to express an opinion. Expressing an opinion — especially a strong opinion that seems ludicrous to the average person (such as “Tua is more accurate than Patrick Mahomes“) — cries out for the very reaction he experienced.
“I took a lot of heat, man,” Hill said of the reaction to the first episode of his podcast. “From fans, from analysts, from family members. It was crazy. Like, last week was probably the craziest week of my life while playing for the Miami Dolphins.”
But what did he expect? He said things that most people would find to be grossly incorrect, comparing an all-time great to a quarterback who is still fighting to achieve his potential, and saying that the unproven quarterback throws passes more accurately than the proven quarterback.
Again, Hill has every right to express his opinion. Anyone who listens to his podcast has the right to react to his opinion with their own opinion. If Hill and Collins don’t like that or don’t understand it, they shouldn’t be doing a podcast.
Yes, Hill’s comments (which he said were aimed at giving Tua more confidence) will serve only to put more pressure on Tua to live up to Hill’s praise. Yes, Hill’s comments about his role in the Kansas City offense last season put more pressure on the Dolphins to get him the ball more than the Chiefs did in 2021, because he made it clear in Episode One that he wasn’t happy with the number of targets and touches he got in 2021.
Collins was introduced in the first episode as Hill’s long-time lawyer. If Collins still represents Hill, Collins should ask himself whether the directions in which Collins nudges Hill will lead him to say things that are in Hill’s best interests. Indeed, several of the more controversial comments Hill made in the first episode were prompted by questions from Collins, who knew or should have known what Hill was going to say and how others were potentially going to react.
The first episode lasted nearly an hour. The second episode lasted 25 minutes. It consisted exclusively of reacting to the reaction to the first episode. If the third episode will consist of the reaction to the reaction to the second episode, there may not be a fourth.
And, frankly, if Hill and Collins want to be able to say inflammatory things without dealing with the natural and obvious consequences of saying inflammatory things, Collins the lawyer should advise Collins the podcast co-host that it’s time to call it a day.