Kareem Hunt and the Power of Belief

The short story, “The System of Dr. Tarr and Prof. Fether” by Edgar Allan Poe, appeared in the November 1845 issue of Graham’s Magazine. Most literaries wouldn’t cite it as one of their favorites, but it did produce one of the most famous cliche lines ever… “Believe nothing you hear and only one half that you see.” That line was delivered by the head of a private hospital for the mentally ill, which also happens to be the setting of the story. Simply, he was referring to the gossip of others. The head of the institution attempts to place wisdom into one of the patients who is unsure of who to trust and what to believe because of gossip in the hospital.

A combination of opinions, bias, fear, and a host of other elements play into who and what we believe… and the recent Kareem Hunt incident is no different. 

Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’ve heard and/or seen the viral video of Kansas City Chiefs star running back Kareem Hunt shoving and then attempting to kick a woman in a hotel hallway. There should be no debate on what we all saw in the video… but… like with everything else, what some believe will determine the fate of Mr. Hunt and if he should ever be allowed to play in the NFL again. 

For a long time, major historical events have been captured on film. Viewing historical events creates takeaways, takeaways generally aligned with preconceived notions and beliefs. When belief is placed ahead of facts and logic, the results can be terrifying. Not sure what I’m referring to? Well let’s go down memory lane and look at a few historical events in which the video recording clearly showed one thing, yet the aftermath and subsequent events did not fall in line with the recording. 

• Rodney King beating by five members of the Los Angeles Police Department. The 1991 video recording still wasn’t enough to convict the police officers of excessive force. The jury did not believe the five White officers used race when factoring in the beating of King, instead of following LAPD protocols. 
• From the mid-1990s until the end of the 2000s, the United Nations sent weapons experts to inspect and determine if Iraq had any weapons of mass destruction. Despite numerous reports AND video recordings of the inspectors showing no signs of active production of weapons of mass destruction, the George W Bush Administration double-downed on its belief that Iraq was linked to sponsoring terrorism against the United States and that it would provide terrorist organizations WMD’s, thus justifying an invasion of Iraq. Thousands of lives lost, billions of dollars spent, and many many many years later, NO such WMD’s have ever been found.
• We’ve seen this countless times before with police shootings, and the all lives matter crowd famously pushing back with “we weren’t there” and “we don’t know all the facts yet.” Responses designed to circumvent the racial elements in questionable police shootings and to uphold the belief that if the person would have obeyed commands, stated their blood type, and recited the alphabet backward… the victim would still be alive today.

As we can see, those with the ability to control the outcome of incidents will do so to favor and confirm their beliefs. 

Now back to Hunt… 

The video showing Hunt assaulting a woman drums up the infamous Ray Rice video in which he assaulted his then fiancé in a casino elevator. After the offseason altercation with his fiancé, Ray Rice started the following season suspended; however, during his suspension, the casino elevator video was leaked by TMZ. The imagery of Ray Rice knocking out his fiancé was too much to be unseen, and Rice never played in the NFL again. That video forever changed the consequences of domestic violence in all sports, a change welcomed by all if applied appropriately.

Hunt’s fate is still unknown at this point; however, the circumstances should be viewed differently. Hunt’s assault wasn’t domestic, which isn’t and shouldn’t be viewed the same. Hunt’s assault was the result of racial slurs from the woman who also attempted to strike him. The suspension and release of Hunt from the Kansas City Chiefs right after the video leaked is valid. Having consequences for conduct unbecoming of a professional athlete is warranted and necessary. However, the beliefs and preconceived notions behind seeing a 5’11 200-pound Black man striking a 5’3 135-pound White woman is one that will probably place longer and harsher punishment on Hunt than it should. Hunt deserves punishment of some sort, and after such punishment, he should be allowed to play in the NFL again, obviously with strict guidelines regarding his off-field behavior. Anything more than that is a slap in the face of fairness.