Tyreek Hill – June 4, 2024
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Tuesday, June 4, 2024
WR Tyreek Hill
(How are you doing today?) – “I’m doing great. I’m feeling fabulous, feeling healthy, feeling vibey. It’s great to be back in Miami for another year. It’s amazing to be around the guys once again. It’s a great feeling. As you all can see, I’ve been all around the world getting my (expletive) torched by kids. But I’m here in Miami so I’m great right now. I’m feeling good.”
(What about the contract?) – “About the contract situation, I’m going to let my agent do his job. That’s his job. His job is to be great at that, and my job is to obviously to come out here and continue to do whatever I can to help this team win. Whether that’s a restructure, whatever the case may be, we want to make sure that it benefits both sides and I want to be able to help the team as much as I can. That’s as much as I can say about it.”
(When you see guys like WR Justin Jefferson and WR A.J. Brown getting deals, what is your reaction?) – “It’s a great day in the Hill household. Everybody waking up happy. Wife waking up happy, my oldest son waking up happy, so it’s a great day. It’s a lot of pressure for me though, because at the same time, I want to be able to help the team as much as I can. Obviously, we already know being greedy ain’t going to help the team. Whatever happens, happens, man.”
(Is it challenging for you to compartmentalize it, separate it and not worry about that when you’re out there and do everything you need to do out there and put it all to the side?) – “No, it’s not. It’s not, man, because I know when I’m at work, it’s time to go to work. Whenever it’s time to talk contract with my agent or whatever the case may be, it’s time to talk contract. Wherever my feet are at, that’s where my head is at. It’s the same thing when I go home with my family. When I go home with my family, I don’t think about football. I think about what I’m going to be cooking next.”
(Can you tell us what it meant to see WR Jaylen Waddle get paid, and what’s it meant to be kind of a mentor for him over the years?) – “It’s great. It’s been awesome, man. Just to see his whole development from where he’s come from, because when I first got here, there were a lot of things that needed to be cleaned up. I was the same way too though – young pup, very explosive, fast, could move with some of the best of them. But as far as with Jaylen (Waddle), he’s done a great job of taking on some of the things I’ve been telling him, and we have such a tremendous receiver coach in Wes Welker that he’s been listening to him also. Just to see him get paid, just to see him get recognized as one of the top guys in this league is awesome. It’s fun. Now his new nickname from me is 28. Every time I see him, I say, ‘What’s up, 28?’ It’s fun.”
(You said a lot about how you want to retire a Dolphin. Head Coach Mike McDaniel talked about it today. For you, if it comes down to maximizing your earnings and insuring that you’re a Dolphin for life, what wins out?) – “Insuring I’m a Dolphin for life – that’s No. 1. That’s priority No. 1, man. This is obviously the best situation for myself and the family, I don’t think it could get any better. Whether it’s the living establishment, the taxes, everything, the weather – everything that comes with just living in Miami is just beautiful. We love it, and it’s awesome just to be here. Coaches are wonderful, teammates are wonderful. I’m like a 20-minute flight away from the Bahamas. I could just go to Baha Mar anytime I want to and do what I got to do.”
(Regarding your status in the league, we know you’re obviously one of the top receivers. Do you feel like you always should be paid like that, should you always be a top five paid receiver?) – “Oh yeah, for sure. I feel like at the end of the day, if you feel like you’re top five at something – that’s like of you worked at Amazon. If you are one of the best Amazon delivery drivers, you’re going to feel some type of way. You’re going to go to your boss and say, ‘Hey bro, I’m doing 100 routes, and this person only doing 65 routes. I’m supposed to be the top paid person.’ You feel me? So if you feel like you deserve something, go get it.”
(How do you feel about QB Tua Tagovailoa’s situation in terms of the fact that the contract still hasn’t gotten done for him?) – “Tua should’ve been paid. I’ve been saying that this all offseason. I know we have a great front office with (General Manager Chris) Grier and (Senior Vice President of Football & Business Administration Brandon) Shore, and they are going to get it done. Obviously, a lot of people are comparing it to the Jared Goff situation and stuff like that. But I feel like Tua is supposed to be up there with some of them guys and passed some of them guys, because just understanding his story and just the progression of how he’s getting better each year and how he’s carrying this offense, it’s crazy. He’s going to continue to get better. I feel like when you get a new contract, they are not paying you for what you did. It’s almost like an investment of what you’re going to do in the future. He’s continually getting better. He’s gradually getting better each and every year. Last year was Pro Bowl, this year a playoff win and much more. Tua should’ve been paid.”
(What are you seeing out of QB Tua Tagovailoa right now? Physically it seems to be a very slimmed down Tua.) – “What I’m seeing out of Tua… I ain’t going to lie, when I saw Tua at the Pro Bowl, I was kind of scared – dude was fat as (expletive). (laughter) He was fat, he was chubby. I was like hold on, bro. Hold on, bro. Ryan Clark said you were kind of thick, he wasn’t lying. But seeing him now and where he’s come from and how skinny he has gotten – what’s that stuff everybody is taking? Ozempic? He had to be taking that, I don’t know. (laughter) What I’m seeing from him now is a lot of guys are getting together outside of here. Hanging out, running routes together, spending off field time together, and Tua is going a great job of orchestrating that. That’s a beautiful thing, because our first few years, we would do it here and there. But this year, he’s really honing in on the guys, hanging out, building that camaraderie with each other, that’s a beautiful thing, man. For him to have such leadership within that and to be a family man, it’s a beautiful thing. He’s growing. He’s growing, and you can obviously see it whenever we step out on the field and we don’t have all of our pieces out there – with myself, with (Jaylen) Waddle in the mix, with Jonnu (Smith), all the guys, Raheem (Mostert), (De’Von) Achane, all of us clicking all at once. It’s going to be a beautiful thing man, I’m excited for this year.”
