Signing of Hunt business as usual

Did the Cleveland Browns outsmart the other NFL teams — including the Steelers — by signing talented, but troubled running back Kareem Hunt Monday?

Or will that controversial decision set the Browns back for years like so many of their previous misguided decisions?

I’m thinking the Browns got this one right. I’m thinking they will be the team to beat in the AFC North Division once Hunt is cleared to play by the NFL and joins a talented group of players including Baker Mayfield, Nick Chubb, Jarvis Landry, Myles Garrett and Denzel Ward.

That doesn’t mean the Hunt signing wasn’t met with outrage in many parts. Frightening, sickening video of him pushing down and kicking a woman in a Cleveland hotel a year ago surfaced in November. It was so bad the Kansas City Chiefs — a Super Bowl contender — cut him immediately. This is the same Chiefs organization that drafted wide receiver Tyreek Hill in the fifth round of the 2016 NFL draft after police arrested him in 2014 and accused him of choking and hitting his pregnant girlfriend. Hill pleaded guilty to domestic abuse charges in 2015. He quickly became a terrific kick-return man and All-Pro receiver. Chiefs fans love him.

Browns fans also will get over their anger quickly once they see Hunt help their team win by scoring touchdowns and running for 100-plus yards every week. Good or bad, that’s how it works in professional sports. The better a player is, the more quickly he is forgiven. Fans here forgave James Harrison after he was involved in a domestic-abuse case in March 2008. Certainly, no one complained when he

was NFL defensive player of the year in the 2008 season and made, arguably, the greatest play in Super Bowl history later that season, his 100-yard interception return against the Arizona Cardinals. Ben Roethlisberger also was forgiven after he was accused of sexual assault in March 2010. He is a franchise quarterback, of course.

Hunt rushed for 1,327 yards and eight touchdowns as a rookie in 2017 and had 824 yards and seven touchdowns in 11 games last season before the Chiefs released him. He also is a strong receiver out of the backfield. Hunt, along with Chubb, will give the Browns the best one-two tandem of backs in the NFL. Chubb finished with 996 rushing yards and eight touchdowns last season after taking over as the team’s featured back for traded Carlos Hyde.

There’s at least one major problem with this signing for the Browns:

Hunt is expected to be suspended by the NFL for at least six games next season. The suspension could be longer because he was involved in another incident in June when he allegedly punched a man in the face. Roger Goodell will not let Hunt off easily after putting his job at risk by initially going soft on former Baltimore Ravens running back Ray Rice in a similar case in February 2014. Rice was suspended for just two games by the NFL before video was released showing him punching his then-girlfriend, now-wife unconscious in an Atlantic City hotel elevator. The suspension was then changed to indefinite, and Rice never played in the league again.

Hunt has apologized for his abhorrent actions — of course, he did — and will take whatever punishment he gets.

Browns general manager John Dorsey has a relationship with Hunt. Dorsey was the Chiefs general manager when the team traded up to select Hunt — a Cleveland native who played his college ball at Toledo — in the third round of the 2017 NFL draft. Dorsey said in a statement Monday that his past dealings with Hunt and knowing him as a person are important. He also said Hunt “deserves a second chance …

“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.”

This is a much different case than the domestic-abuse case involving Rice in one significant way. Rice was 27 at the time, a heavily used back whose career was winding down. It was easy for the NFL to eventually blackball him rather than face the criticism it would take if he were signed by one of its clubs.

Hunt is 23. His best football is ahead of him.

There it is again, that talent-trumps-all thing.

Here’s guessing many sanctimonious Steelers fans are disgusted by the Browns decision to sign Hunt.

Here’s also guessing those same fans would have gotten over their anger if the Steelers had signed Hunt to replace Le’Veon Bell, pair with James Conner and help the team win a championship.

That’s pro sports, right?