The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
Hunt envisioned Chiefs duel long ago
RB wants to win Super Bowl for hometown fans; facing former team is next step
Kareem Hunt sensed early on the Browns would be special this season, and when he realized that, it was only natural to project what was destined to happen.
The Browns play the Chiefs, Hunt’s former team and defending Super Bowl champions, at 3:05 p.m. Jan. 17 in Kansas City, Mo., in the divisional round of the playoffs. The winner meets the survivor of Ravens-Bills on Jan. 24 in the AFC championship game.
“Kareem talked about this game all year like he knew it was going to happen,” Nick Chubb, Hunt’s close friend and running mate in the Browns backfield, said Jan. 13 on Zoom. “He’s excited for it. I’m excited for him. I’m excited to watch him go out there and play. He’s ready for it.”
The Willoughby South High School graduate was a third-round draft pick by the Chiefs in 2017 after attending the University of Toledo. He led the NFL in rushing as a rookie and was on his way to another spectacular season when, on Nov. 30, 2018, a video surfaced of Hunt shoving a woman to the floor in a Cleveland hotel hallway and kicking her in February 2018. The Chiefs cut him immediately.
Hunt was a man without a team until former Browns general manager John Dorsey, who drafted Hunt in Kansas City, in February 2019 decided Hunt deserved a second chance. Hunt was
suspended the first eight games of 2019. A traffic stop in January 2020 during which Rocky River police found marijuana in his car was another mark against him. But the Browns were convinced his remorse was sincere. Five days before the 2020 season began, the Browns gave Hunt a twoyear contract extension. He has been a model citizen since.
“It tells a lot about him when he’s able to recover, because a lot of people haven’t been able to recover from bad times,” South football coach Matt Duffy, who coached Hunt in high school and stays in close contact with him, said in a phone interview Jan. 13. “He’s figured out a way. He’s always been a humble kid. He’s counting his blessings and at the same time working really hard for what he has.”
Now Hunt has a chance to pay the Browns back in
the biggest game they’ve played in the last quarter century. He rushed for two touchdowns last week when the Browns beat the Steelers, 48-37, in a wildcard playoff.
“Being able to go out here and work for my hometown and the Cleveland Browns and be in this position to have a shot so late into the season to bring a ring home, it would mean more than anything to me,” Hunt said Jan. 14 on Zoom. “I want to help bring a change in culture around here, and that’s get a ring. My biggest goal coming into the NFL was to win a Super Bowl before I retire.
“I never had the chance to win a national title in college or anything like that, so the Super Bowl has been on my mind since I got drafted to Kansas City. They were able to get that goal, which they deserve. That’s a good program over there, a good football team and good people.” One might suppose Hunt’s motivation to play against the Chiefs is to seek revenge against the team that cut him. That is not the case.
“I wouldn’t say I’m mad,” Hunt said. “It was just a learning point of my life. It is what it is. Now, I’m back home in Cleveland. God has a plan for me, and it obviously is to be here.”
Hunt said he stays close to Chiefs’ head coach Andy Reid, quarterback Patrick Mahomes and tight end Travis Kelce. He said they’ve communicated by phone this week.
“I came in with guys over there,” Hunt continued. “Bragging rights. Travis, Pat and all of those guys, we’re buddies. This is my first time playing against some of my best friends in the NFL. It’s definitely going to be for bragging rights and stuff like that for the long run with my guys.”
On the other hand, it’s not going to be all highfives and hugs for Hunt come game day. Hunt ran chest-high into Steelers linebacker Spillane at the Pittsburgh 4 last week. Legs churning, drove Spillane back toward the goal line. Safeties Terrell Edmunds, 217 pounds, and Minkah Fitzpatrick, 207 pounds, joined Spillane and, still, Hunt kept driving and dragging 650 pounds of Steelers meat into the end zone. He’ll try to do the same thing if Kansas City defenders get in his way.
“I automatically play with anger, so I’m going to find it,” Hunt said. “You don’t have to worry about where I’m going to find it, but we will find it. I play with a lot of emotion, but this will probably be a little bit more.”
Hunt isn’t just saying what he’s expected to say about playing for the team he grew up watching. It is the real deal, Duffy. Hunt keeps in touch Matt Luck, his track and field coach at South, as well as Duffy.
“I’m real excited, and know a lot of people in our community are real excited and happy for him,” Duffy said. “He’s ultra-excited, as well, and he’s thrilled to do it in his home town. “It’s something that really motivates him. Knowing him as long as I’ve known him, he loves where he grew up. I remember talking to him in high school and his college years. I asked him ‘What would be your dream?’ He said, ‘To play in the NFL.’ ‘What about the Browns?’ He said, ‘I would love that!’
“He’s very sincere. It fires him up. We talked last week and he talked about his close friends and family members crying (out of happiness). That makes him all that more happy and more determined. It’s pretty neat.”
Duffy listed the qualities that make Hunt successful — speed, strength, power — things all NFL running backs have. Some have more of those qualities than others.
“The overlooked thing with running backs people don’t talk about is vision,” Duffy said. “Kareem has great vision. He understands the game. He understands blocking schemes. He’s a highly intelligent football player.
“I’ve had faster kids. I’ve had stronger kids, but never one that packages the balance, vision, the strength and power of Kareem. He’s also running angry, and he’s really good at it. That run when he ran into (Spillane), he was really determined. He’s at his best when he does that. He’s just a rare package of all of the tools when you put them all together, which I think makes him so special.”
Hunt smiled when asked about his on-going relationship with Duffy and Luck.
“At least once or twice a week I touch base with those guys,” Hunt said. “They’ve been in my corner before anyone knew who little ol’ Kareem Hunt was. I can’t ask for more from them. They’ve always been there. I always have to stay in touch with those two.”
Hunt envisioned the game the Browns are about to play Jan. 17 long before it was set. He can see a Super Bowl ring on his finger. And he can see Matt Duffy and Matt Luck as his guests if the Browns get to play in the ultimate game.
“Kareem talked about this game all year like he knew it was going to happen.” — Browns running back Nick Chubb