Tyreek Hill – November 16, 2023
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Thursday, November 16, 2023
WR Tyreek Hill
(You got married?) – “I did. I did get married to my longtime fiancée. It was about time, man. It’s something that we wanted to do over the bye week and we did it. We went through with it. I finally went through with it. (laughter)”
(How’s it feel to be a married man then?) – “It feels good, man. I feel like everything that’s been happening to me, it’s been for good reason. I’ve been locked in at a different rate, disciplined with just my whole entire life, the way I just approach everything and I definitely – I eliminated a bunch of things so that’s probably why I’m having some of the success that I’m having this year.”
(What did WR Jaylen Waddle get you as a wedding gift?) – “He hasn’t gotten me anything yet. He’s been promising me brunch like ever since the beginning of training camp. I showed up to his place and he stood me up twice. (laughter) It really sucks because I really be looking forward to spending time with Waddle on off days.”
(Anything you can tell us about the wedding? Big ceremony? Any teammates there?) – “Nah, we kind of changed it up. Kind of just me and her and our family members. With weddings, Cheetah is the star of the show and it’s my job to allow her to do her thing. I just want to her smile.”
(Why the bye week?) – “Why the bye week? You know what, I just felt like it was perfect timing, man. I was spending a lot of time with my kids, spending a lot of time with her, and the conversation just came up. I was like, ‘babe, like we’ve been engaged so long, are you ready to tie the knot?’ It kind of caught her off guard. She didn’t believe me because we’ve been engaged ever since 2021. It was like, ‘ok, let’s go do it.’ She was like, ‘show me you’re for real.’ And then we did it.”
(You mentioned giving up some things. Any example you’d care to give?) – “I’ll say it, man, because I want every athlete to be successful as far as like drinking, as far as like women, as far as like partying, as far as anything. I feel like I’m at the stage in my career now where I’ve got to be more mature with anything that I do outside of football. It’s being a father, it’s being a son, a husband now. I’ve got to stand in that role of being the man that my grandparents raised me to be. I’m loving it.”
(And it’s because you’ve locked in that you feel like you’re seeing this difference?) – “Oh, yeah. Oh, for sure. I’m feeling great. I’m feeling great. I promise you I’m feeling great with just everything, with just my routine in life right now. I know that some day it’s going to come to an end and I’ve got to find new ways to adapt to life after football. We’ll be fine. That’s just the way of life.”
(I want to ask you about the Raiders. WR Davante Adams obviously is one of the elite wide receivers in this league. When you watch him, what’s your favorite part of his game?) – “Just how he sets up his routes. Like you said, he’s one of the best receivers in this league. He does a great job of gaining leverage on opponents and I think that’s something that we all can take from his game as far as like all of the receivers in this league. So he does a great job with hat.”
(As a wide receiver, can you help teammates on the other side of the ball and explain what the wide receiver might be doing? You mentioned ways WR Davante Adams sets up routes. Can you help your cornerbacks with explaining what he is probably doing?) – “Oh, yeah. Today, I was actually part of the scout team a lot today and I was Davante Adams. I had a chance to run some Davante Adams-like routes. I was able to make Xavien Howard fall a few times, so that was fun. (laughter) Then when he fell, I was able to go over to him and explain to him why he fell.”
(I’m doing something on the defenses that you guys face and I know you guys face a lot of unscouted looks. Has every team done something unusual against you guys?) – “Nah. I just feel like those teams are doing what they’re good at. The Kansas City Chiefs did a good job of sticking to their gameplan. Their corners played exactly how we thought they were going to play, aggressive at the line of scrimmage. I feel like teams are doing exactly what we think they are going to do. We just have to do a better job of staying focused and doing the small things on routes and being in the right spot for Tua (Tagovailoa).”
(I know some of these players have told me Patriots Head Coach Bill Belichick played the three-high safety look and they said the Giants DC Wink Martindale didn’t blitz and he always blitzes. So it seems some teams have done some out of character things. Would you agree?) – “I mean, I will say that. If you’re talking about the whole entire season, the New England Patriots with Coach Belichick, with the three-safety look, that was something that we’ve never seen before. They had both safeties down trying to get hands on me and Jaylen (Waddle), trying to protect the outside, not allowing the ball to get outside of them. We have been seeing a bunch of unusual things. It’s just something that we will adjust to because we got the personnel here. We got great coaches who are able to help us attack those things.”
(I’ve heard you and QB Tua Tagovailoa talk on the sideline and you do good in-game adjustments. Is that accurate?) – “Oh, yeah. I always do that. No matter what. Even if I’m running the wrong route or something, if I see a certain defense on third-and-two, I go back to Tua and say we have to remember this defense because it was successful this time, and the d-coordinator might come back to it. I’m always trying to overcommunicate. It’s something that I’ve always learned. Even if the quarterback may know it, you always want to put it in his head again, keep it fresh in his head.”
