The Cheetah and The Cop: Lessons Learned.

When all-world receiver Tyreek "The Cheetah" Hill was racing to his NFL game, he didn't expect to be cop-blocked outside the stadium. But Hill's not a victm. He could've avoided the drama and trauma.

Watch the above raw video closely and tell me what you see. At first, it’s distressing, especially when you see a beloved football star handcuffed and face-down on the pavement. Tyreek Hill is an entertaining, friendly, and impossible-to-defend NFL wide receiver. You hate to see him in this jam.

But watch again. What is truly happening in this video? It’s not the one-sided victim narrative that Hill and his personal support team are peddling on media and social media. What seems like defensive interference by law enforcement turns out to be offensive interference by Hill. This is why we have bodycams on cops: instant replay.

Here's the post-game analysis. When a police officer stops you: 1. Don't talk back. Don’t say, as Hill did, “Don’t knock on my window like that, man.” And especially don’t tell a police officer, as Hill did, “Don’t tell me what to do;” 2. When the police ask you to roll down your window, keep it down. It's for your safety and theirs. With tinted windows, as Tyreek Hill had in his $310,500 black McLaren 720S, police cannot know what you are up to inside the vehicle. You could be pulling a gun. You could be planning to run them over or drive away. These things regularly happen to cops because people panic, are drunk, are on drugs, are genuinely guilty of a significant crime, or are not adequately trained in how to respond in a police encounter.

I fully grasp that, as Hill said in his otherwise deceitful CNN interview, he was concerned with the optics of being seen by fans passing by. That’s fair. However, personal and professional optics go out the tinted window when entering the law enforcement domain; 3. Stay calm. Don't protest. Speak respectfully; 4. Things go off the rails when persons do not precisely follow directions and when naive friends intervene and turn a routine police encounter into another potential George Floyd travesty.

I suspect Hill feared being late for the Sunday afternoon game between his Miami Dolphins and the visiting Jacksonville Jaguars. It’s always terrifying to be pulled over by a cop, especially when your adrenaline is rushing, and you are getting your game face on. I feel for him. Most of us know this from experience. Some more than others. But if you must call your agent or a friend, keep the window down and ask permission when the time is right.

Tyreek Hill––who has a long, sordid history of violence against women––is, in theory, no different than anyone else running late to work. However, his situation changed when he was pulled over; he needed to adjust to the new reality like he adjusts on the fly to a quarterback scramble.

This is not racial. The same thing happened recently with white pro golfer Scottie Scheffler. Hill is not in some protected Brahmin class because he is a wealthy black football star. With the tinted windows in Hill’s McLaren, cops could not even see Hill's race until he finally rolled the window down. So, there was no way to know his race or star status when they flagged him for reckless driving.

Even though Hill was not personally targeted, I doubt the pricey, conspicuous McLaren helped his cause, especially with the arrogant attitude of its driver. Cops are human too. They are just trying to do their jobs and not die in the process. Any dude of any stripe in a car that costs four times a cop’s salary, who’s not being cooperative? Like it or not, that is going to set a cop off.

While these cops could have been a bit less aggro given the offense, they are trained to take command of a situation lest their lives and the lives of others become endangered. It helps if you respect that, not insult them or pull rank in a situation totally within their purview.

Life lessons: Stay calm, stay below the radar, remain inconspicuous, and show humility and respect. The truly wealthy don't show off their wealth, and they obey law enforcement commands even if they seem unjust. And, for the love of God, don’t EVER call a cop “bro” or a female sports interviewer “dawg” (see below).

Mr. Hill, you are a charming, fun, and charismatic entertainer. I hope, as you say below, that you will learn from this incident and not exploit it.

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