A quick look at the Kareem Hunt saga reveals a curious timeline.
The Kansas City Chiefs released Hunt on Friday after TMZ published a video showing the running back assaulting a woman at a Cleveland hotel.
That incident occurred way back in February, however, and both the Chiefs and the NFL were aware of it. But neither entity claimed they saw video footage of Hunt's attack until TMZ released it, with Kansas City claiming Hunt was "not truthful" while initially describing the incident to the team.
So, how was TMZ able to obtain a video that a billion-dollar company like the NFL could not?
According to ESPN's Adam Schefter, the league contacted the hotel to obtain the video but was rebuffed.
It appears the NFL did exhaust some resources trying to track down the video. But as Sports Illustrated legal expert Michael McCann noted Saturday, the league usually can get what it wants with enough resources and willpower.
Unlike in the case of New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady, however, the NFL didn't go out of its way to pursue further discipline or track down the video. As McCann pointed out, though, both the NFL and TMZ are private companies "subject to the same rules of engagement" with the hotel -- which means TMZ was willing to do what the league could not to obtain video evidence of Hunt's attack.
In fact, TMZ even saw the footage before the Cleveland police: A spokesman for the Cleveland PD told USA TODAY Sports that its detectives "only follow up on felonies," and that Hunt's incident was a "misdemeanor."
New England Patriots
That incident has left Hunt without a job, but if TMZ hadn't made the February video public, he very well could still be in a Chiefs uniform.
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