Andy Reid on Kareem Hunt: People deserve a second chance if they worked hard in the first half

The Chiefs have officially brought Kareem Hunt back to the franchise, several years after the team released him when a video surfaced of the running back pushing a woman to the ground and then kicking her.

At his Wednesday press conference, head coach Andy Reid expressed no qualms about re-signing Hunt.

“Yeah, what we told him and said publicly (in 2018) was that we just felt like he needed a change of scenery and get some help, take care of his business there. And we felt like he did that,” Reid said. “He did a good job in Cleveland. We talked to people there and there were no issues there. So we felt like it was a good idea to bring him back.

“He's 29 now, time flies, but he's 29 and it seems like he's grown up a bit.”

Reid noted that this was the first time the Chiefs had had real, true conversations about Hunt returning to the franchise. But based on conversations with Browns officials and quarterback Patrick Mahomes, who stayed in touch with Hunt, the Chiefs felt comfortable with his addition.

“I just called and made sure everything was OK,” Reid said. “Pat remained good friends with him. He was at Pat's wedding. So, the two of them went out in the same class and developed a friendship here. And then, the (Cleveland) general manager spoke highly of him, the coaches and so on. So we feel good about that. … I think people deserve a second chance if they've done something to improve the first part.

“I think we meant what we said, that we need to deal with this. This is not good as life goes on, for anyone. So it seems like he's understood that. I know he's done well since then and I hope he continues to do well. But if that wasn't the case, we wouldn't have brought him back.”

While things have changed for the Chiefs since Hunt last played for them in 2018, the basic tenets of the system remain the same, meaning it likely won't take too long for Hunt to get back to playing. Reid said Hunt will do more with the scouting team than the Chiefs' offense at first, and the staff will judge things from there.

“He'll know the base protections, he'll know the baserunning,” Reid said. “Some of the routes are a little new, but we're not forcing him to do all that. Some of the terms, he just has to listen to them. But right now, it's specific to that team's job. It's not like he's going into training camp and he's going to have 300 plays. He's just got to make sure he's in tune with that.”

Last season, Hunt rushed for 411 yards with nine touchdowns and caught 15 passes for 84 yards with Cleveland.

“He had recently had sports hernia surgery,” Reid said. “So I think he was probably affected a little bit by that, just after he got back. But I still saw the drive, the toughness when he came back in there. And we tested him here and we feel good about it. But we’ll see.”

“He's getting older, the runners… he's 29,” Reid added with a laugh. “For a runner, that's old.”