Tyreek Hill Says He Declined Apology From Officer Who Denies One Was Ever Offered
And now comes that time in the Tyreek Hill traffic stop drama in which we've treaded onto the strange territory of the tale.
Hill told reporters on Wednesday that representatives for the officer who stopped him outside Hard Rock Stadium on Sunday have reached out to offer an apology.
That, by the way, was a suggestion I made in my column Wednesday morning. I also wrote Hill should similarly apologize for the role he played in the incident.
"They already tried, but we declined," Hill said of the attempt by the other side to apologize. "It’s up to everybody else’s judgment to have their own opinion about how they feel about the video."
ESPN Says Heard From Officer
ESPN later reported Hill was contacted by the legal team representing officer Danny Torres earlier this week in an effort to apologize.
And that would be quite the move.
It would make Torres look like a very big man, because it takes a big man to see an error and try to fix it.
But it would also call into question the motivation for Torres to do this now.
So OutKick reached out to Ignacio Alvarez, the founder and managing partner of the Coral Gables-based ALGO Law Firm which represents Torres, to find out what that motivation is.
Torres Did NOT Offer Apology
And Alvarez stood by his firm's original statement, which was basically to not comment on the situation until after the Miami-Dade Police Department's internal investigation of Torres and the other officers involved in the traffic stop is complete.
But Alvarez did offer one comment via email:
"I can say that neither Officer Torres, his legal representatives, attorneys or anyone speaking on his behalf has had any communications whatsoever with Mr. Hill, his counsel or his representatives," Alvarez wrote.
So, what the heck was Hill talking about?
Because now what we seem to have is Hill declining an apology from an officer who didn't offer an apology.
Hill Saga Disconnect Continues
And you wonder how these two people didn't seem to get each other in that now viral traffic stop?
Even three days later, when tempers have calmed and the altercation is history, there is a disconnect.
One supposes these failed connections stop here because, well, Hill definitely doesn't believe he needs to apologize to Torres.
He does wish he had handled the traffic stop differently, and eloquently said so during his press conference.
But he doesn't feel the need to apologize.
"When you say apology, who do you mean?" Hill asked. "From who?"
Bills at Dolphins Thursday Night
So here we are: These sides are not talking.
And nobody's apologizing. Hill, in fact, said at his press conference he wants Torres fired. "Gone," he said multiple times.
The Dolphins play the Buffalo Bills on Thursday night. And I have questions about that:
Will Hill drive himself to the game?
Has the last week of non-stop Hill coverage, that has included appearances on CNN and NBC Nightly News, become any form of distraction to Hill? Or the Dolphins?
We're going to get back to writing about football soon.
Unless more wackiness ensues.