KANSAS CITY, Mo. — After Kareem Hunt was released by Kansas City in 2018 after video showed him pushing a woman to the ground and kicking her, it appeared he would never don a Chiefs uniform again.

Well, never say never.

In a surprising move, the Chiefs signed Hunt to their practice squad on Tuesday to help fill in for Isiah Pacheco, who fractured his fibula vs. the Cincinnati Bengals in Week 2.

In the six years since Hunt's departure from the team, Chiefs head coach Andy Reid said he was a changed man.

"He needed a change of scenery and get some help and take care of business there," Reid told reporters on Wednesday. "We felt like he did that. He did a nice job in Cleveland and we talked to people there, and there were no issues there.

"We felt okay by bringing him back, he's 29 years old now. It looks like he's grown up some," Reid continued.

Reid said the Chiefs called around to make sure everything was going well with Hunt and that the Browns front office spoke highly of him.

He also has stayed close with Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes since he left Kansas City. He even attended Mahomes' wedding in 2022, where he and Reid had a conversation.

"I think People deserve a second chance if they've done something to work on the first part of it," Reid said.

Mahomes and Hunt were in the same draft class in 2017. The two-time MVP lauded his new teammate for his improvements.

"He went to Cleveland, had a good career there, has learned and become a better person and I'm glad to have him back now," Mahomes said.

"At the end of the day, I just root for the person to keep becoming a better and better person, and the football is secondary, but I'm glad to have him back and in the building. I gave him a hi five and a hug when I saw him cause it's a person that I used to spend a lot of time with a long time ago."

Mahomes has kept in touch with Hunt and realized the changes he's made over the past six years.

"Everybody has friends that make mistakes—and obviously some are bigger than others—but at the same time you want to make the person better and when you see them taking the right steps to become a better person for themselves, their family and the rest of the society.

"I've stayed in touch with him just to see how he's doing, how his family's doing. He's been able to carve out a great career in the NFL, but I mean you've seen he's been able to keep his nose clean and be a better person and that's what you want in order to make everybody better people," Mahomes said.

Coach Reid said there's a chance Hunt could play against the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday, depending on how he does at practice.

"We'll get him in here and get some work, kind of get him back in the swing of playing, and then we'll just see," Reid said. "We'll try to get him in a position where he's ready to play either this week, next week or the following week."

Reid also stated that it was unclear whether Pacheco would return this season. He had a successful surgery on Wednesday and his timeline is estimated for a return is still estimated to be 6-8 weeks.

Hunt finished last season with 411 yards on 135 carries and nine touchdowns.

News Source : https://www.ozarksfirst.com/sports/andy-reid-mahomes-explain-bringing-kareem-hunt-back-to-chiefs/