KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Kansas City Chiefs running back Kareem Hunt took the NFL by storm in his rookie season, leading the league in rushing and making the Pro Bowl in 2017.
He followed that up with another productive campaign in his second season, this time alongside Patrick Mahomes, who he was drafted in the same class with.
He seemed destined to join the list of great Chiefs running backs, but that all came crashing down after an incident at Cleveland hotel in February of 2018. Hunt shoved a woman to the ground before kicking after Hunt’s friends said the woman called him a racial sur.
When the video surfaced months later, Hunt was swiftly released by the Chiefs. He signed with the Cleveland Browns the next season but was given a six-game suspension.
Fast forward nearly 10 years later, and Hunt now finds himself as a vital piece on the team he started with, with a chance to help the Chiefs win a third straight Super Bowl. It’s a full circle for Hunt, who—by all accounts—is a completely changed and matured man.
“It changed me cause I was at the top. I led the league in rushing, did a whole bunch of stuff and everything was going good, and then just to get knocked backed down to the bottom where it all started,” Hunt said.
“You gotta find a way to be rebuild it back up to the top. I had to just stay down, I knew it wasn’t going to be an overnight thing. I had to just believe in myself and do the right thing.”
Hunt was a free agent before signing with the team in September after starting running back Isiah Pacheco suffered a fractured fibula in Week 2, opening the door for his shot at redemption.
The Ohio native contributed instantly, receiving a handsome workload from head coach Andy Reid.
“He did a nice job. I joke that we just pulled him off the couch and threw him in there. I think he had 21 plays the first game, 27 the next game. We kind of beat him up there, without any introduction,” Reid said. “He sure handled it well and he’s having a good time.
Hunt finished the regular season with 200 carries for 728 yards and seven touchdowns. He has also seen the bulk of the carries in the postseason and has scored a touchdown in both playoff games.
Even though this is the biggest game of Hunt’s career, he is staying in the moment and treating it like another day at the office.
“Hoonestly, I’m just trying to relax, just take it day-by-day,” Hunt said. “I can’t overhype myself up about it. It’s just another football game, I gotta treat it like that, even though it;s probably the biggest one of my life. I gotta stay relaxed and calm.”