![]() Of course, not everybody gets a second chance, although some believe a zero-tolerance approach to violence against women can make the problem worse. We’ve seen it happen plenty of times before, and in other sports besides football. And if Hunt keeps his nose clean for long enough, and continues to put up big numbers, all involved can spin his story as a comeback narrative. If Hunt returns to playing like he did in Kansas City, then he will be described as “troubled” and announcers will vaguely refer to “off-the-field behavior” during broadcasts. If history tells us anything, this is how the scenario will play out. At this point, teams have realized that a certain amount of “outrage fatigue” among fans and commentators alike eventually set in. Sure, they face some negative headlines now and they will certainly get some pushback if and when Hunt is cleared to play, but sooner rather than later that will eventually die down. Of course, maybe the Browns are gambling that there’s not going to be much of a backlash. It felt like the Browns were taking an unnecessary hit to their image by signing a controversial player when they already had his position filled. In fact, they traded away Carlos Hyde to give Chubb the ball more often. ![]() Cleveland, after all, already have Nick Chubb on the roster, and he averaged 5.2 yards per carry last season. Tellingly enough, the initial reaction to the move was surprise that the Browns were involved. When Browns owner John Dorsey was asked about his team’s stance towards violence against women, he responded: “I’m not going to be the spokesperson for the organization with regards to that.” Well, that should cover that. According to ESPN, the NFL has not finished its investigation into the matter and Hunt will remain unable to play until the league makes a final verdict. It was only November, mind you, that the Kansas City Chiefs released the player after TMZ uncovered disturbing footage of the incident, for which Hunt was not arrested and did not face charges. On Monday, the Browns announced they had signed Hunt, reportedly to a one-year contract. Perhaps this was the most damning aspect of the Cleveland Browns making the move to sign a player caught kicking and pushing a woman on video: that there wasn’t much surprise involved. There was only so long a 23-year-old running back who led the league in rushing as recently as 2017 was going to remain without a team. S omebody was going to pick up Kareem Hunt eventually.
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