The Cleveland Browns announced via Twitter that they have signed running-back Kareem Hunt.
The former University of Toledo standout was cut by the Kansas City Chiefs in November after a video released by TMZ showed him shoving and kicking a woman in a Cleveland hotel.
Following the release, Hunt was placed on the Commissioner’s Exempt List, which prohibited him from signing with another team for the remainder of the 2018 season. Despite the signing, Hunt will still face a suspension for the 2019 season, and he will continue to take the alcohol and anger management classes that he has been attending since his initial release, according to NFL insider Ian Rapoport.
Current Browns general manager John Dorsey drafted Hunt in 2017 when he was in the same role in Kansas City and now decides to take another chance on the NFL’s 2017 rushing leader. Dorsey has a track record for taking risks on players with troubled pasts, most notably Chiefs All-Pro receiver Tyreek Hill and Browns receiver Antonio Callaway.
Dorsey had this to say about the signing: “My relationship and interaction with Kareem since 2016 in college was an important part of this decision-making process but we then did extensive due diligence with many individuals, including clinical professionals, to have a better understanding of the person he is today and whether it was prudent to sign him. There were two important factors: one is that Kareem took full responsibility for his egregious actions and showed true remorse and secondly, just as importantly, he is undergoing and is committed to necessary professional treatment and a plan that has been clearly laid out.”
The move will come with off-the-field question marks, as what he has admitted to will not be soon forgotten by football fans across the country. However, from a football perspective, adding Hunt to a duo of Nick Chubb and Duke Johnson gives the Browns one of the most talented backfields in the NFL.
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