Miami Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel commended his players for their response to Tyreek Hill and Calais Campbell being put in handcuffs hours before their season opener Sunday and vowed the incident with police won’t “get swept under the rug.”
Miami-Dade police stopped Hill’s vehicle about a block away from Hard Rock Stadium on Sunday morning due to a moving violation, and he was briefly detained. Video posted online showed the star receiver placed face-down on the ground by police while handcuffed.
When teammate Campbell — a veteran in his first season with the Dolphins — came by the scene and tried to de-escalate the situation, he too was briefly placed in handcuffs.
Hill was ultimately issued two traffic citations. Miami-Dade police said the officer who made initial contact with Hill was placed on administrative duty while an investigation is conducted.
McDaniel, 41, is biracial, the son of a Black father and White mother. Hill and Campbell are both Black.
“It’s been hard to not find myself more upset the more I think about it,” McDaniel told reporters at his scheduled Monday press conference.
“The thing that (expletive) me up, honestly, to be quite frank, is knowing that I don’t know exactly — I don’t know what that feels like.”
McDaniel said it was “very, very important” to him to let due process run its course, but that the feelings Hill and Campbell expressed to him were “unsettling.”
He added that he feels crushed by “the unknown” and the possibility that the incident was worse than he already knows.
“Simply because of my appearance, I don’t have a history of feeling profiled,” McDaniel said. “For me in particular, I feel pretty helpless at times.”
“But two things did come from the adversity,” he added. “Super proud of teammates being teammates, and super proud of our guys understanding the civic responsibility of a platform.”
Hill made it to the game in time to play and contributed an 80-yard catch-and-run touchdown that launched the Dolphins’ comeback in a 20-17 victory over the Jacksonville Jaguars. Upon Hill scoring the touchdown, teammate Jaylen Waddle helped him celebrate by grabbing Hill’s wrists behind his back and pretending to place him in handcuffs.
Afterward, Hill told reporters he had “no idea” why he was handcuffed for a moving violation and claimed he was not disrespectful toward the officer.
But the South Florida Police Benevolent Association defended the officer in a statement from president Steadman Stahl on Monday, claiming Hill did not cooperate. Video showed the officer gave Hill less than one second to follow orders before being cursed at.
“First, to be clear, at no time was (Hill) ever under arrest,” the statement read. “He was briefly detained for officer safety, after driving in a manner in which he was putting himself and others in great risk of danger.
“Upon being stopped, Mr. Hill was not immediately cooperative with the officers on the scene who, pursuant to policy and for their immediate safety, placed Mr. Hill in handcuffs. Mr. Hill, still uncooperative, refused to sit on the ground and was therefore redirected to the ground.”
Police have yet to release official bodycam video, and McDaniel said he would let the process play out.
Still, he was on edge, ready to defend his players.
“This is too much under the spotlight to get swept under the rug,” McDaniel said.
–Field Level Media