Report: NFL never interviewed Kareem Hunt during domestic violence investigation

The NFL’s investigation into an incident in which former Chiefs running back Kareem Hunt kicked and shoved a woman at a hotel in February did not include speaking to Hunt, according to an ESPN story published Sunday.

Citing league sources, ESPN said the NFL never tried to interview Hunt after the incident, but did reach out to the woman and her friend “on multiple occasions,” though neither responded.

TMZ first posted the video of the incident Friday night. It included surveillance footage of Hunt beating the woman in the hallway of The Metropolitan at the 9 hotel. The video shows several people trying to separate Hunt and the woman, who at one point swatted Hunt in the face.

The NFL didn’t see the video until it was made public despite multiple attempts to secure the footage from the company that runs hotel and the Cleveland police, a person with knowledge of the efforts told USA TODAY Sports. The person request anonymity because of details of the investigation have not been made public. 

The same person told USA TODAY Sports the alleged victims in the case did not respond to the NFL’s attempt to gather more information about the incident. 

According to a statement from the Chiefs on Friday night, members of their management team spoke to Hunt about the incident initially. The video proved Hunt was “not truthful in those discussions,” prompting his release Friday. The league also placed him on the commissioner’s exempt list. 

According to The Athletic, which cited multiple league sources, the Chiefs knew video evidence of the altercation existed, but they were told by the NFL to stop pursuing it later in February once the league began its investigation.

Said Hunt in a statement to ESPN and NFL Network: "I want to apologize for my actions. I deeply regret what I did. I hope to move on from this."

USA TODAY Sports does not name victims of violence. 

Contributing: A.J. Perez

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