Kareem Hunts Chiefs second chance took him from high school field to Super Bowl 2025

NEW ORLEANS — Kareem Hunt’s season is ending with a trip to the Super Bowl.It is an unlikely destination when you consider where it started.Hunt’s season began with workouts at his high school and trips to the local YMCA to stretch and hit the sauna.It looked like his NFL career might be over at 29 years old.

The Browns had moved on from him after the 2023 season, when he only rushed for 411 yards.He kept working out, hoping to get another chance when the Chiefs called.“I mean, I would be lying if I said those thoughts didn’t go through my head a little bit,” Hunt said Tuesday.

“I just always had faith and I was like, somebody is going to need a running back here soon.”The Chiefs had lost running back Isiah Pacheco to a fractured fibula and they wanted Hunt to return.Now, Hunt is playing in his first Super Bowl.Back in 2018, it looked like Hunt would be part of a good, young Kansas City core that was ready to go on a long run of winning.

He led the NFL in rushing as a rookie in 2017.Then, Hunt’s time with the Chiefs ended abruptly when the team cut him in 2018 after a video surfaced of him shoving and kicking a woman in a hotel hallway.The Chiefs said Hunt was not honest with them about the incident and released him.Hunt expressed remorse about the incident here Tuesday, saying, “It shouldn’t have happened.”“I’m grateful to have a second chance,” Hunt said.

“Redemption means to me, I’ve got to make the most of it now.”Hunt signed with the Browns in 2019 and watched from afar as his old teammates with the Chiefs began a historic run.They won the Super Bowl that year and have won two more since.“I was hurt about it, honestly,” Hunt said when asked what it was like to watch the Chiefs win from Cleveland.For Hunt, he knows that his transgression changed the course of his career.“Honestly, you know, it’s like I almost should have never left,” Hunt said.On Tuesday, Hunt spoke about his growth since the incident.“It chan...