Tyreek Hill says he could have handled some aspects of traffic control better

MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. (AP) — Miami Dolphins wide receiver Tyreek Hill admitted Wednesday that he felt uncomfortable in the first moments of a Traffic control on weekends He was then handcuffed and dragged from his car by police near the team's stadium.

Hill also said he wanted one of the officers involved in the incident to be fired from the police force.

Hill said he wished he had done some things “a little differently” on Sunday morning, such as leaving his car window closed when officers asked him to do so. Instead, he rolled the window up. From there, the incident quickly escalated.

“I have to say, I could have done better,” Hill said. “I could have rolled down my window at that moment. But I don't want attention. I don't want to be standing there with cameras and cell phones out at that moment. But at the end of the day, I'm only human. I have to follow the rules. I have to do what everyone else would do.”

“Does that give them the right to literally beat me up? Absolutely not,” Hill continued. “But at the end of the day, I wish I could go back and do things a little differently.”

Miami-Dade Police Director Stephanie Daniels launched an internal investigation Sunday afternoon and one officer was placed on administrative leave. That officer, Danny Torres, wants to be reinstated immediately, his attorney said this week. Meanwhile, the Dolphins have said they want “swift and decisive action” against all officers involved.

Hill did not mince his words when outlining what action he believes should be taken against the officer.

“Gone. Gone. Gone. Gone. Gone. Gone. He's got to go, man,” Hill said. “At that moment, not only did he mistreat me, he disrespected my teammates. He said some crazy words about them and they didn't even do anything. Like, what did they do to you? They're just walking on the sidewalk. He's got to go, man.”

Hill was dragged from his car near his team's stadium less than three hours before kickoff of Miami's first game. He was laid on the ground and handcuffed, and his teammate Calais Campbell — who drove past the scene of the accident and stopped to play peacemaker — was also handcuffed by police during the incident.

Hill was charged with reckless driving and failure to wear a seatbelt.

The Dolphins play the Buffalo Bills on Thursday night, and Hill said he would use the game as therapy to escape thoughts of the incident. He said he would not take a knee – a move many players have used in recent years to protest police brutality – or call for defunding police. Hill has said several times in recent days that he has respect for police officers and that he intends to work in law enforcement after his playing days.

“Right now I'm focused on my job, and that's playing football,” Hill said. “That's all I can be, the best football player I can be.”

Body camera footage Details of the incident released Monday evening by Miami-Dade police indicated that the traffic stop quickly escalated after Hill rolled up his car window.

Hill rolled down the driver's side window and handed his license to a police officer who had been knocking on the window. Hill — one of the game's best and most dynamic players, an eight-time Pro Bowl player who led the NFL with 1,799 receiving yards last season — then repeatedly told the officer to stop knocking before rolling the dark-tinted window back up.

After a back-and-forth around the window, bodycam video shows an officer pulling Hill out of his car by his arm and head, then pushing him face-first onto the ground. Officers handcuffed Hill and one pressed a knee into the middle of his back.

In the footage, Hill can be heard repeatedly yelling that he had just had knee surgery as police officers forced him to the ground. The receiver said Wednesday he underwent a small stem cell procedure on his knee during the offseason in Antigua. Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel called it a procedure that Hill is “making sure he takes care of.”

Hill said he was at a movie theater Monday night when he got the news that the footage was being released. He left the theater to watch it and said he hopes people who see the video — both civilians and police officers — use it as a tool to learn and improve, even drawing a parallel to the way football players improve by watching game film.

“It's shocking, man,” Hill said. “It's really crazy to know that there are police officers in this world doing this with their body cameras on. That's sad. That's really sad. That brings us to another conversation and leads to 'What would they do if they didn't have body cameras?' Which is even crazier.”

NBA player Bam Adebayo said Hill should have followed officers' orders and rolled down his window as instructed. He also said it was difficult to see what happened next.

“For me, it's being dragged out of the car, being thrown on the ground, having his knee on his back and you can kind of hear him talking, but because the cop has so much weight on his back, he can barely talk,” the Miami Heat captain said. “I never want to get pulled over and catch a cop on a bad day. It reminds me that they don't care who you are. Some of it escalated to a point where it could have gotten ugly for him. We've heard that story many times, countless times.”

The altercation and what was seen on the bodycam videos of the six officers has once again brought to the forefront discussions about the experiences of black people with the police – something that has been a national conversation for some time.

Hill has been involved in off-field incidents before, but his teammates spoke out this week and condemned those who took advantage of Hill's past. Allegations from Violence to justify excessive use of force. McDaniel said Wednesday that Hill continues to grow as a person and that he has spoken to him several times about why that is important. He also acknowledged that Hill could have handled the incident differently, without providing specifics.

“A conversation about what provoked the unnecessary,” McDaniel said, “is trivial compared to the unnecessary.”

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