Hearne: Are The Chiefs Above The Law?

Tyreek Hill mugshot

At what point in time does somebody deservingly rise above the law?

How about, never.

That said, there’s a big difference between this year’s Chiefs from going undefeated and crawling out of last place to hanging to first by a thread.

And that’s pretty much the predicament the Kansas City Chiefs, head coach Andy Reid and quarterback Patrick Mahomes find themselves in. As just about every single person with the slightest interest knows is true.

Let longtime KCC reader comment Rainbow Man explain:

“If Reid is not distracted by his son’s situation that would mean there is something very wrong with him. I think it has definitely been a factor. I am not surprised that there is drinking at the Chiefs facility. Its a posh, clubhouse type of environment. But it is pretty obvious that Britt Reid got intoxicated at One Arrowhead. I wouldn’t be surprised if they had a Super Bowl send off happy hour in the office. The Chiefs seem to be Teflon.

“Andy Reid transformed the organization and the Chiefs are are a first class team. I also get a sense that Andy Reid is a good man. I truly sympathize with his personal family issues and none of us know what he is going through there. BUT… the Chiefs expect and demand no scrutiny and they get little scrutiny on matters that deserve it. They are a pretty arrogant organization and they are enabled by the media, local government and law enforcement. They are also enabled by a punch drunk fan base. Right or wrong, winning does cure all ills. So if we miss the playoffs this year and come out weak next season … They will be squirming with fan angst.”

I realize we’re standing on a pretty small stage here now…

Beyond that, the Rainbow man’s taking a harsh internal looksee into a seldom explored obvious.

In today’s world, an NFL football teams live in a world mere mortals can only imagine.

Where else can low lifes like Tyreek Hill  behave so egregiously toward women – yet be forgiven sans question – simply because they are good at the sport they engage in?

In another like, Chiefs fans would probably be ashamed of themselves, but they bought a measure of forgiveness by cutting loose star running back Kareem Hunt.

Not because Hunt mopped up the floor with a couple trampy women outside his Cleveland hotel room, but because he failed to square things with Chiefs management on how exactly things went down.

Lame, right?

“The Chiefs expect and demand no scrutiny and they get little scrutiny on matters that deserve it,” Rainbow writes. “They are a pretty arrogant organization and they are enabled by the media, local government and law enforcement. They are also enabled by a punch drunk fan base.”

Why don’t football suck ups like Star sports columnist Bentkey VenturesSam Mellinger grow a pair and take a stand on that kind of critique, instead of wringing their hands about whether the team’s name is politically correct?

The answer to that seems obvious.

The path of least resistance in the case of a highly regarded NFL team like the Chiefs is to kiss up to them, while doling out measured critiques, so as not to put your press pass, job and gourmet free press box eats at risk.

Years ago, a cranky local publisher named Leathers got on the wrong side of the team  and was all but banished from the press box. A former star player by the name of Joe Montana was looming large at the time and the Chiefs PR team all but blacked out the newspaper for critiquing the team.

That’s the way the game is played – or can be – and writers like Mellinger know better than to mess with the team’s “punch drunk” fan base.

But let’s allow ourselves a time out here to look in our mirrors briefly…

Will the local cops who looked the other direction when Montana drove home from Westport hammered – and the same fans who now think Kareem Hunt got screwed and could care less that Tyreek beat up and threatened his son’s mother, please stand up?