Yahoo Finance Tyreek Hill explains why he shoved Chiefs WRs coach Greg Lewis during Sunday's game
Tyreek Hill raised eyebrows when he shoved his position coach on Sunday.
As CBS went to commercial break during its broadcast of the Kansas City Chiefs’ win over the Cleveland Browns, cameras caught Hill yelling on the bench and standing up to shove wide receivers coach Greg Lewis after a Chiefs drive stalled for a field-goal attempt.
Lewis didn’t immediately respond and was seen shortly after the incident smiling through his mask. The interaction raised obvious questions. Was Hill’s shove malicious? If not, what was going on?
Hill didn’t address it on Sunday other than to tweet that he loves Lewis like an uncle.
Yes man love him like a uncle 😂😂 https://t.co/zsIlNWTWlu
— Ty Hill (@cheetah) January 18, 2021
He provided a deeper explanation on Wednesday when speaking with media as the Chiefs prepared for Sunday’s AFC championship game against the Buffalo Bills. He told reporters that he was trying to spark some energy with his teammates when he shoved Lewis.
Hill: Not a ‘hothead’ or a ‘diva’
“That’s just me and my personality. I’m just fired up and happy just to be in the NFL.”
Cameras caught Tyreek Hill shoving #Chiefs receivers coach Greg Lewis on the sideline. Hill said it wasn’t what people assumed it to be. #ChiefsKingdom pic.twitter.com/y7ApUUX6t9— Mitchel Summers (@WIBWMitchel) January 20, 2021
“I play the game with so much passion,” Hill said. “We put so much into this game. Like, I come off the sideline like fired up and I just give my coach a shove.
“That’s just me and my personality, man. I’m just fired up and I’m just happy just to be in the NFL and just to be a part of this great organization.
“A lot of people seen it as me being a hothead on the sideline, being a diva. It wasn’t nothing like that. It was just I’m fired up, trying to give the guys energy. ... Think about it. If I would’ve really pushed my coach, everybody would’ve been holding me back.”
Andy Reid’s explanation
Head coach Andy Reid also downplayed the shove on Monday, telling reporters that the incident wasn’t as bad as it looked.
“They were messing around,” Reid said, per ESPN’s Jeff Darlington. “I know how it came off, but if you look at a minute later, they’re laughing over there. If you talk to both of them, they’ll tell you they were just messing around.”
Lewis hasn’t publicly spoken about the shove, which isn’t out of the ordinary. Position coaches generally don’t speak with media. But the Chiefs are clearly fine with brushing the incident off as nothing and looking forward to Sunday’s game.
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