Advertisement
Getty Images
The first episode of Tyreek Hill’s podcast caused quite a stir on a number of topics. On the second episode of Tyreek Hill’s podcast, Hill and his co-host tried to clean things up.
Just outside the gates in Season One Episode Two of It had to be saidHill and Julius Collins complained about the “snippets” of the first episode, which drew the attention they wanted to create.
Free advice for anyone with a podcast. You either want people to watch and react to it, or you don’t want to. But you can’t choose how people react. And the things said on the first episode of Hill’s podcast invited and encouraged reactions.
However, some fans apparently went too far.
“I’ve received death threats from every social media site — I’ve received death threats on every social media account I own,” Hill said. “Which is ridiculous. You know what I love?”
Hill never said why he loves it. Based on what he said and how he said it, we’re guessing he loves that his comments stir things up and doesn’t take the death threats seriously.
Collins specifically complained that some in the media channeled a “shut up and play” attitude toward Hill. We didn’t notice that anywhere; “Shut up and play” is the response of those who want athletes not to talk about other issues, especially politics.
That said, it’s fair game for the media to criticize Hill for what he says. That doesn’t mean telling him to “shut up and play.”
He has the right to express his opinion. And those who listen to his opinion have the right to act on his opinion. Isn’t that what Hill and Collins want? Response, engagement, interest etc.?
It could be that Hill, like many other athletes and celebrities, wants to be able to speak his mind and not have anyone criticize his opinion, even though his opinion deserves to be criticized.
That doesn’t mean expressing an opinion. Expressing an opinion—especially a strong opinion that seems ridiculous to the average person (like “Tua is more accurate than Patrick Mahomes”)—cries out for the very reaction he experienced.
“I got a lot of heat, man,” Hill said of the reaction to the first episode of his podcast. “From fans, from analysts, from family members. it was crazy Last week was probably the craziest week of my life playing for the Miami Dolphins.”
But what did he expect? He said things most people would find grossly wrong, comparing an all-time great to a quarterback still struggling to reach his potential and saying that the unproven quarterback throws more accurate passes than the proven quarterback.
Again, Hill has every right to voice his opinion. Everyone who listens to their podcast has the right to react to their opinion with their own opinion. If Hill and Collins don’t like this or don’t understand it, they shouldn’t be doing a podcast.
Yes, Hill’s comments (which he said are aimed at giving Tua more confidence) will only serve to put more pressure on Tua to live up to Hill’s praise. Yes, Hill’s comments about his role on the Kansas City offense last season put more pressure on the Dolphins to get him the ball than the Chiefs did in 2021 because he made it clear in Episode One that he was with the Zahl wasn’t happy with the goals and touches he received in 2021.
Collins was introduced in the first episode as Hill’s longtime attorney. If Collins is still representing Hill, Collins should be wondering if the directions Collins is prodding Hill will lead him to say things that are in Hill’s best interests. In fact, some of the more controversial comments Hill made in the first episode were prompted by questions from Collins, who knew or should have known what Hill was going to say and how others might react.
The first episode lasted almost an hour. The second episode lasted 25 minutes. It consisted solely of responding to the reaction to the first episode. If the third episode consists of the reaction to the reaction to the second episode, there may not be a fourth.
And honestly, if Hill and Collins want to be able to say inflammatory things without dealing with the natural and obvious consequences of saying inflammatory things, attorney Collins should advise podcast co-host Collins that it’s about time , to break up.
