Miami Dolphins Media Conference

Sunday, September 8, 2024

Miami, Florida, USA

Tyreek Hill

Postgame Presser


Dolphins 20, Jaguars 17

Q. Tyreek, can we go through what you experienced? What happened?

TYREEK HILL: Right now, I been trying to figure that out, too. I've been trying to figure that out too, man. Right now I'm trying to put it all together. So I'm not going to give you a version that I still don't know --

-- for cops, man. Everybody has bad apples in every situation. I want to be able to use this platform to figure out a way to flip this and make it a positive on both ends, on my end and also Miami-Dade. That we way win together and do something positive for the community. That's what it's all about. You guys are here to protect us as individuals. I have a platform, and I want to be able to team up with you guys.

That's all I got to say, so...

Q. Why do you believe the police put you in handcuffs?

TYREEK HILL: I have no idea for real. No idea. No idea, man. It's crazy. No idea. Wasn't disrespectful because my mom didn't raise me that way. Didn't cuss. Didn't do none of that.

So like I say, I'm still trying to figure it out, man.

Q. I guess the police officer was put on administrative leave. Were you aware of that?

TYREEK HILL: No, I wasn't. I wasn't. That should tell you everything you need to know, you feel me? It should tell you everything you need to know. That's all I'm going to say about that situation.

I'm just glad that my teammates were there to, like, support me in that situation because I felt alone. When they showed up, it made me realize that we got a fucking good team this year, dog. For them to put their life on the line, you know what I'm saying?

It was amazing to see, man, so...

Q. Was it on your mind when the game started?

TYREEK HILL: You know what, the thing about me, man, I have a great support system at home, from my wife, from my mom. Even when I come inside the locker room, my teammates.

So I was able to pray with my family, able to talk to my wife, calm down a little bit. I was straight, man. I know at the end of the day I still got a job to do. You feel me? Ain't nobody worried about if 'Reek come in, if he drop three passes 'cause he still thinking about the little scenario. Nobody thinking about that, man. I still got a job to do, so... Got a family to feed. I got to be a leader of this team. I got to find ways to bounce through adversity, no matter, whenever it hits, so...

Q. How do you answer that question, what if you weren't Tyreek Hill?

TYREEK HILL: I don't know. Still trying to figure that out. It's all across the world, man. You see it. I don't want to bring race into it, but sometimes gets kind of iffy when you do. You feel me? What if I weren't Tyreek Hill? Lord knows what that guy or guys would have did. You feel me?

I was just making sure that I was doing what my uncle always told me to do whenever you in a situation like that: just listen. Put your hands on the steering wheel, just listen.

Got to be careful, man.

Q. Did an officer put hands on you when you were in handcuffs?

TYREEK HILL: Yeah.

Q. What was going through your head during that moment?

TYREEK HILL: I don't know. I was thinking about something else. What was I thinking about? I was thinking about going for, like, 150 today for real. Man, I'm going to go crazy today, man (smiling). You feel me?

Then all that happening. I'm like, This happening? It happened. It happened so fast that it caught me off guard. You feel me? I'm like, Damn, they're really doing this.

Q. Why did they even pull you over?

TYREEK HILL: They said I was speeding. I don't know. They said I was speeding. Reckless driving, whatever.

Q. Did the officer know who you were?

TYREEK HILL: No idea. No idea.

Q. Were you able to say, I'm about to play a game?

TYREEK HILL: I wasn't raised like that, name drop or flash. You feel me? If you say I did something, write me a ticket. I'm a normal person, too. If you say I did something, write me a ticket. Do whatever you got to do. You feel me? I'm saying, Don't be disrespectful. You feel me? I don't know.

Q. How much planning went into that touchdown celebration?

TYREEK HILL: Hey, I knew immediately, man. Like, J.W. was like, you get in that end zone today, show your tail, show your tail, I do the rest. You feel me?

It was a planned celebration. Obviously we had something else. Then this happened this morning. Like they say, man, Free my dog 'Reek.

Q. How does it feel you and Waddle combining for the domination that you had to do after a slow start?

TYREEK HILL: It felt good, man. Like you say, we had a very slow start, man. First quarter, second quarter was not running good routes, not doing what we normally do. Just to see Waddle ball, make plays for us and get us going in that second half, they really got me going right there. You feel me?

'Cause we know that the offense, we need big plays. We're a big-play offense. It was good to see Waddle do his thing. Yeah, it was great for us to come back and win the game in the second half.

Q. Building off this, you have a short week, how quick do you turn the dial to the Bills?

TYREEK HILL: You forget quick. We enjoy with the family tonight, enjoy with the teammates tonight, move on to the Bills tomorrow. It's just that fast. It's how this business work, man.

Q. What do you think of Tua's performance today?

TYREEK HILL: Tua, he stepped up in the second half. He did his thing. Second half he played lights out, man. Like I say, first half, offense, we all was like kind of timid a little bit, shaking all the dust off our knees and stuff like that. We was getting out the huddle kind of slow.

The thing that really motivated me the most was when we come in. During halftime, this is the first time I heard Tua's Hawaiian accent. It's crazy. Like, he was turned up and animated in the locker room. I'm like, Okay, I'm liking this. He was going. I'm like, Yeah, let's go, man.

He called me out. I'm loving this, bro. Me, I love accountability at its finest. You snow what I'm saying? That's what I grew up on. I grew up on my dad telling me, 'Reek, I need you to be better, not patting me on my back, not doing this.

For my quarterback to call me out in front of the whole offense like that, I had to step up, do my thing. You feel me? I like that in a leader.

Q. You and Achane tied for leader and receptions today. What's your reaction to that?

TYREEK HILL: He's moving to receiver, bro. Achane is a dog, man. He's one of those guys that can do it all, man. You feel me? Play running back, come out the backfield, catch passes like a wideout. He's a very special talent, man. He's going to continue to get better and help this offense. You feel me? You never can have too much speed on the field at once. Having him and his availability is going to be special for this offense.

Q. I remember in the frozen Chiefs locker room after a playoff game, you said something like, We got to stop learning to be frontrunners. Did you learn today?

TYREEK HILL: You guys got to come up with a new narrative, I guess. Come up with something else. Y'all can't say that we frontrunners now.

It's amazing to see. It's amazing to see like our team not feel sorry for our self early on in the game. Our defense had our back the whole entire game. We just came together as an offense, man. We decided like, Hey, first of all, we got to call the plays, get out the huddle fast, do what we normally do, baby. We fast. You feel me? People don't like to run fast with us in Miami, dog. It's too hot.

We did that in the second half. We ran fast. Ran some deep routes. We executed, man.

Q. It's one game, but starting a season understanding where your goals are, what does a comeback win like this do versus being on the other side?

TYREEK HILL: It's great. It's great for the confidence. Like, it's great for the confidence in the locker room, for all the guys to see that, Hey, we not going to be easy to beat. Whether it's home, whether it's on the road. Moving late in the season, not every game is going to be perfect. We know that. We going to have games like this. Granted, we don't want to put ourselves behind the eight ball. We still got to be mindful we can come back at any moment because we got the team to do it, man. We got some dogs on this team, we got some athletes on this team.

Hey, I'm just blessed to be a part of this team, man. Blessed to be here with you guys today.

Q. Was there added emotion playing this game today after what you experienced this morning?

TYREEK HILL: For sure. Like I said, I was in my, like, hubby phase driving to work, feeling good. Then, like, when all this happened, bro, I got turned up. I was pissed off, bro. Like on the sideline, I was fucking teed up, bro. Today is the first day I really blocked somebody. Like, I pancaked somebody today. No. 91, 6'8", pancaked him. I did that today. I was fired up today, man. Like I needed that, man. Sometimes I can get lazy. I can get this and that and get bored. I'm fast, I can run by you.

I need that. You feel me? So it is what it is.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports
148081-1-2377 2024-09-08 20:56:00 GMT

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