Miami Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel said he was glad Calais Campbell and Jonnu Smith attempted to help teammate Tyreek Hill during his detainment by police outside Hard Rock Stadium on Sunday morning.
“It’s what you hope your team is comprised of,” McDaniel said. “I’m very proud that they see each other as teammates and hold that in regard the way they do. … I was very happy that a guy in a situation like that didn’t feel alone.”
Prior to Sunday’s game, Hill was ticketed for a traffic violation while arriving at the stadium, his agent, Drew Rosenhaus, told ESPN. Videos on social media showed Hill on the ground and being handcuffed while surrounded by four Miami-Dade police officers. Campbell told ESPN he was also detained and cited for disobeying a direct order. He said he saw Hill in handcuffs and believed it was “excessive force.”
Officers released Hill in time to play in Sunday’s game, a 20-17 win over the Jacksonville Jaguars. Hill played a key role in the win, catching seven passes for 130 yards, including an 80-yard touchdown. While celebrating the touchdown, Hill mimicked his detainment by putting his hands behind his back.
“Right now, I’m still trying to put it all together,” Hill said after the game. “I still don’t know what happened. I want to use this platform to say, ‘What if I wasn’t Tyreek Hill?’ Like worst-case scenario. … I want to use this platform to figure out a way to flip this and make it a positive on both ends, on my end and on Miami-Dade so that way we can team together and do something positive.”
Following Hill’s detainment, Miami-Dade Police Department director Stephanie Daniels said in separate statements Sunday that she requested a review of the incident and that one of the officers involved was placed on administrative duties while the investigation takes place.
On Monday, the South Florida Police Benevolent Association, a union for police officers, said it “(stands) with the actions of our officers” involved in the incident.
“We have worked hard across all communities to bridge the gap between what people believe law enforcement should and can do,” the association said in a statement. “While we wait for the investigation to run its course, based on what we know, we stand with the actions of our officers but look forward to further open communication moving forward.”
While addressing Hill’s detainment, McDaniel said, “It’s been hard for me not to find myself more upset the more I think about it.”
“Trying to put myself in that emotion or that situation that they described emotionally and then knowing more than that. The thing that f— me up, honestly, to be quite frank, is knowing that I don’t know what that feels like.”
He added: “I think that it’s supremely important to wait for information to be gathered before any rush to judgment. Regardless, I know the feelings expressed to me are … unsettling. Two things did come from the adversity. I’m super proud of teammates being teammates and super proud of our guys understanding the civic responsibility of a platform and intending to do right by it.”
(Photo of Mike McDaniel and Tyreek Hill: Jim Rassol / USA Today)
