Video emerged Friday of Kansas City Chiefs running back Kareem Hunt attacking a woman in the hallway of an apartment building, showing him shoving, charging at her, and kicking her.
The silence from both the NFL and the Chiefs organization in the hours since TMZ published the footage suggests that both parties are forming a strategy on how to proceed.
The likely first step from the league would be to place Hunt on the commissioner’s exempt list, which – according to the NFL Player Personnel Policy Manual – is available “only in unusual circumstances.”
This allows the team to retain the player’s rights with no penalty to count against the 53-man roster and gives the NFL a buffer period to conduct an investigation and gather more information about an incident.
The player continues to be paid and does not attend practices and games, but may still go to the team’s facility for individual workouts, medical treatment, meetings, and any other non-football activities – at the team’s discretion.
Commissioner Roger Goodell is the only person with authority to place a player on the list.
Recent examples of players placed on the exempt list include then-Vikings running back Adrian Peterson in 2014 after being indicted on child abuse charges; and then-Panthers defensive end Greg Hardy after being convicted of assaulting a woman in 2014 (chargers were later dismissed after an appeal triggered a jury trial for which the victim didn’t show up).
Most recently, Redskins linebacker Reuben Foster landed on the list Tuesday after he was arrested Saturday night and charged with one count of domestic violence in Tampa.
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