Kareem Hunt is soaking in this Chiefs Super Bowl opportunity he thought he'd never get

NEW ORLEANS — Awaiting Kareem Hunt was everything that comes with Super Bowl festivities — the bright lights, the row of cameras, a single microphone. A large group of reporters Tuesday morning were ready to surround Hunt, the Chiefs’ running back and one of the team’s most interesting players this season.

All of the reporters, in essence, wanted the answer to one question: How the hell did you get here?

In early September, Hunt was at home, literally sitting on the couch. Less than five months later, Hunt is a key player for a Chiefs team that is one victory away from winning an unprecedented third straight Super Bowl victory. This NFL season began with Hunt and the Chiefs never considering this reunion, an unexpected partnership critical to their collective success.

Hunt arrived at the ballroom of the team’s hotel Tuesday donning a white No. 29 Chiefs jersey, the same one he wore when he began his season of redemption. The lone difference was the Super Bowl LIX patch on his chest.

“I’m grateful to have a second chance,” Hunt said. “Redemption to me means I have to make the most of it now.”

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In 15 games this season, including the postseason, Hunt has overperformed all expectations. Despite no training camp, preseason games or even a padded practice before joining the team, Hunt led the Chiefs with 200 rushing attempts for 728 yards and seven touchdowns. He has elevated his performance in the postseason, too. In the Chiefs’ two victories, over the Houston Texans and the Buffalo Bills, Hunt rushed for 108 yards on 25 attempts and two touchdowns.

“He’s not going to get tackled by one person,” center Creed Humphrey said of Hunt. “He’s going to keep trucking and being physical. He reads (running) lanes really well, too.”

If the Chiefs beat the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday to capture their third consecutive Lombardi Trophy, everyone in the organization will acknowledge that Hunt was a major reason why the franchise made NFL history. Mike Bradway, the Chiefs’ senior director of player personnel, smiled and shook his head when he acknowledged it Monday night.

“He’s been a godsend,” Bradway said of Hunt.

In a season that included plenty of injuries (most notably running back Isiah Pacheco, cornerback Jaylen Watson and receivers Marquise Brown and Rashee Rice), Hunt, not receiver DeAndre Hopkins or left tackle D.J. Humphries, was the Chiefs’ best in-season acquisition. At age 29, Hunt produced consistently, something most running backs his age struggle to achieve.

One reason the Chiefs earned the AFC’s No. 1 seed and home-field advantage in the postseason was Hunt’s remarkable production in his first five games, a stretch from late September to early November. He recorded 465 all-purpose yards and five touchdowns without a fumble on 118 touches, the most in the Super Bowl era for a player in his first five games after being signed during a season. The Chiefs won all five of those games.

“We kind of beat him up without any introductions, but he sure handled it well,” coach Andy Reid said Tuesday of Hunt. “He’s having a good time, his first time at the Super Bowl. It’s one of the neat stories.”

Before this season and the first significant injury in Pacheco’s three-year career, the long-held belief inside the organization was that the team would never allow Hunt to wear a Chiefs uniform again.

Five days before the biggest game of his life, Hunt was asked to describe his five-month experience after rejoining the Chiefs.

“It’s like going back to your first love,” he said. “I promised to make the most of the opportunity.”

Everything changed for the Chiefs on the opening night of the 2017 draft. The team’s draft class from that season will always be remembered most for the team’s covert pursuit of Patrick Mahomes, culminating in the execution of a blockbuster trade to acquire the Texas Tech quarterback who would become a franchise-altering superstar. The day after the Chiefs acquired Mahomes, they paired him with Hunt.

Similar to Mahomes, John Dorsey, who then was the general manager, made a trade, sending the Chiefs’ third-round compensatory pick (104th), their fourth-round pick (132nd) and their seventh-round pick (245th) to the Minnesota Vikings for the 86th pick to select Hunt, who starred at Toledo.

Although Hunt didn’t have breakaway speed, he was known for quick feet, balance after contact and effectiveness as a receiver out of the backfield. Some executives and scouts, however, were somewhat leery of potential off-the-field issues concerning Hunt.

As a rookie, Hunt’s first rushing attempt ended terribly: He fumbled the ball, which was recovered by the New England Patriots, then the league’s reigning champions.

“I thought my career was done,” Hunt said. “I was like, ‘Man, I’m a bust.’ Then Coach Reid did a good job.”

Reid told Hunt to calm down and relax. Reid also called the next play for Hunt to demonstrate his confidence and trust in him. In response, Hunt produced one of the best debut performances for a rookie running back — 246 all-purpose yards on 22 touches and three touchdowns.

“That was another second chance right there,” Hunt said, recalling that game. “I was like, ‘Wow, I’ve got to make the most of it.’ Every time I touched the ball that game, I was trying to inflict pain.”

Hunt finished his rookie season scoring 11 total touchdowns and leading the league in rushing with 1,327 yards. Playing alongside Mahomes in 2018, Hunt was on his way to an even better second season, scoring 14 total touchdowns and recording 1,202 all-purpose yards in 11 games.

But he was released on Nov. 30, 2018, after TMZ Sports posted a video of him shoving and kicking a woman in a hallway of a Cleveland hotel on Feb. 10, 2018. After the move, the team also noted that Hunt lied about the incident on multiple occasions, including conversations with club owner Clark Hunt.

“It changed me because I was at the top,” Kareem Hunt said. “Everything was going (well). Then, to get knocked back down to the bottom, you’ve got to find a way to rebuild yourself. I knew it wasn’t going to be an overnight thing. I just had to believe in myself and do the right things.

“I’ve learned to think before you act, don’t go off of emotion. It humbled me.”

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Hunt served an eight-game suspension in 2019 and began the second chapter of his career with the Cleveland Browns, who at the time were led by Dorsey, the GM.

In five seasons with the Browns, his hometown team, Hunt recorded 2,285 rushing yards and 32 total touchdowns.

“He did some great things with Cleveland,” Chiefs GM Brett Veach said.

The second-lowest point of Hunt’s career came in late January 2020. In the middle of a traffic stop in Ohio, Hunt, in a moment captured on dashcam video, asked the police officer a question: Do you know what happened to me?

The officer did know.

“I should be playing in a frickin’ Super Bowl,” Hunt told the officer. “It hurt my soul.”

Even when they weren’t teammates, Hunt and Mahomes maintained their friendship. One of the biggest gestures Mahomes made was inviting Hunt to attend his wedding, which happened on March 12, 2022.

“With Kareem, obviously he made his mistakes,” Mahomes said. “But I knew the person before, and I knew the person after. I knew that he had a good heart and he had to learn from his mistakes and become a better person because of it. He did that. He dealt with the consequences.

“Just knowing him and how close he was to me, but also how he treated Brittany and how he treated my family has always been special.”

While Mahomes and Brittany celebrated and danced during the wedding reception, Hunt spent time chatting with Reid.

“I knew he wanted to redeem himself,” Reid said of Hunt.

The 2023 season was rough for Hunt. In 15 games with the Browns, he recorded just 495 all-purpose yards on 150 touches, although he did score nine touchdowns. He also dealt with several injuries and needed sports hernia last January.

“It was definitely tough playing through that injury,” Hunt said. “I didn’t complain. I went to work every day and gave it everything I had. I didn’t want to miss any games.”


Chiefs running back Kareem Hunt has 108 rushing yards and two touchdowns in two playoff games this year. Ninety of those yards have come after contact. (Mark J. Rebilas / Imagn Images)

This past summer, Hunt was a free agent. Similar to other veterans his age, Hunt knew his best chance to return to the league was if a team’s starting running back suffered a significant injury. Four times a week in the summer, Hunt trained at Willoughby South High with Matt Luck, his former high school track coach. Hunt and Luck made up their own running back drills. Hunt used cones on the field to execute cuts with the ball in his hands.

“Every time I worked out, I used that as motivation,” Hunt said of occasional thoughts that he’d never play the NFL again. “I worked out extra hard, just to get it off of my mind. I just stayed in shape and kept battling.”

In September, Hunt was on the couch.

“I saw the injury,” Hunt said, referencing Pacheco, who broke the fibula in his right leg in Week 2. “I was like, ‘Eh, that probably won’t happen.’”

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The next morning, his agent, Dan Saffron, suggested Hunt text the Chiefs to let them know he was available.

Hunt’s text messages to Reid and Mahomes were simple and to the point: I’ve been grinding, man. I’m hungry. I want to come help y’all.

Two hours later, Reid, after talking to Veach and Mahomes, told Hunt to pack his bags for a tryout workout. Hunt accomplished two objectives the next day: He showed he was healthy and athletic and he demonstrated the appropriate accountability for his mistakes when he met with Reid and Veach.

“The kid has grown and learned and he’s so grateful to be here and we’re so grateful to have him,” Veach said of Hunt. “It’s really a blessing for this to come full circle. To see the way he’s grown and developed as a person, both on and off the field, is great. I’m so happy for him, and he’s been so, so critical to our success.

“He’s a phenomenal player and I’m just blessed that it worked out.”

Less than two weeks after joining the Chiefs, Hunt was back in the team’s white-and-red uniform — and in tears — before a game against the Los Angeles Chargers.

When he entered the game for the first time in the second quarter, rather than trotting onto the field like the other Chiefs offensive players, Hunt did something different to signify his return to the NFL. He loosened his legs with high knee exercises. He also knew the Chiefs needed a boost as they were trailing the Chargers by 10 points. Hunt provided tenacity and steady production to help the Chiefs complete their comeback win. With 28 snaps in three quarters, Hunt finished with 85 all-purpose yards on a team-high 16 touches.

“I could barely get out of the bed,” Hunt said about the next day. “It was tough, man. I did all this hard training, but nothing compares to going out there and getting hit and tackled for three quarters.”

Since that game, Hunt has spent almost every day in the Chiefs’ training room, arriving at 7 a.m. to get treatment to recover as quickly as an eighth-year NFL running back can.

He celebrated his first touchdown by using his hands to show a heart to the fans at Arrowhead Stadium. In early November, Hunt used his season-high 28 touches to generate a season-high 117 all-purpose yards in the Chiefs’ overtime win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The game ended when Hunt scored the walk-off touchdown.

“That guy is a gladiator, man,” safety Justin Reid said of Hunt that night. “Everyone in the stadium knew he was getting the rock and they still couldn’t stop him. I know from personal experience playing him, the guy is such a hard tackle.

“I can’t believe that he was sitting at home. I cannot believe it, but we’re really fortunate that we were able to pick him up.”

The last time Hunt was on the field in Arrowhead was close to two hours after the Chiefs’ win over the Buffalo Bills in the AFC Championship Game. Back in his street clothes, Hunt walked slowly, his eyes looking at the confetti in the end zone, the same end zone he scored a touchdown in on the Chiefs’ first drive.

“I was just taking it all in,” Hunt said. “It was making it feel real. It didn’t feel really real at the time (right after the game) that you’re headed to the Super Bowl. That’s every player’s dream.”

Known as a player’s coach and coach willing to give players a second chance more often than his peers, Andy Reid said that one of his favorite moments of this season was watching Hunt’s initial reaction after the Chiefs received the shiny silver Lamar Hunt Trophy as the AFC champion.

“Just seeing Kareem (Hunt) standing there going, ‘Wow, this is unbelievable,’ is great,” Reid said. “That’s why you do this as a coach.”

Inside the Chiefs’ celebratory locker room, tight end Travis Kelce, a 12th-year veteran, held back tears when he tried to put Hunt’s season into perspective.

“That’s my family,” Kelce, who is also from Cleveland, said of Hunt. “I love that guy to death. I’ve been his biggest advocate ever since all that happened, trying to get him back here. I’m happy as hell for that guy, man. He’s come a long way and he’s really leading our team with his mentality and the style of play that he has right now. I love playing with him.”

Hunt knows his job this season is not finished. His final task is to provide the same intensity, determination and gritty playing style he has displayed this season in the Super Bowl against the Eagles.

Before Sunday’s kickoff, Hunt will reflect on his circumstances just seven months ago. He prayed those mornings for one more season in the NFL and then returned to Willoughby South High with Luck for another training session. Hunt was willing to play for any team.

“I could’ve quit,” he said. “I could’ve just said, ‘Forget it, I might just hang it up.’”

Before he trots onto the field on the NFL’s grandest stage, Hunt will also reflect on his gratitude for the Chiefs, who gave him an opportunity for redemption he never expected.

“This is where it started for me,” Hunt said. “To come back here and help them win one, especially a three-peat, that would mean absolutely the world (to me).”

(Top photo: Emily Curiel / The Kansas City Star / Tribune News Service via Getty Images)



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