Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel spoke for 27 minutes, expressing empathy for Tyreek Hill after the star receiver was detained by police before Sunday’s game.
Hill received citations for careless driving and a seatbelt violation during a traffic stop after police handcuffed Hill and placed him on the ground near Hard Rock Stadium, as he was arriving for the season opener against the Jaguars.
Teammate Calais Campbell, who stopped to check on Hill, also was handcuffed. He said it was for not moving his car quickly enough and standing inside of 25 feet of Hill in an attempt to de-escalate the situation.
“It’s hard for me not to find myself more upset,” McDaniel said Monday, via Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald. “Try to put myself in that situation. The thing that fucks me up is knowing I don’t know what that feels like. It’s very important that two things should be true. You let due process work and let information be gathered to appropriately project an opinion. But I can’t get away from the fact of what I know their experience to be.
“If you are Calais Campbell and going to work, whatever personal innocence you have, you are gigantic strong miraculous man that has done right in all ways, shapes and forms. There are elements to that that are very triggering. I think it’s supremely important to wait for information to be gathered before any rush to judgment. The feelings expressed to me are unsettling.”
The Miami-Dade Police Department internal affairs division contacted Hill about the incident, and Hill’s agent, Drew Rosenhaus, said Hill’s lawyers are considering all options, including litigation.
“This is too much under the spotlight to get swept under the rug,” McDaniel said.
McDaniel was asked about race and how that might have played into the incident as Hill is Black.
“When you know you can’t truly understand, the unknown is what crushes me,” McDaniel said. “I can only forecast. My forecast: What if it’s worse? . . . Simply because of my appearance, I don’t have a history of feeling profiled. For me in particular, I feel pretty helpless at times.”
McDaniel said he is proud of the way Hill and the other players handled the situation. Hill caught seven passes for 130 yards, and the Dolphins won 20-17.
