Kareem Hunt has learned the value of second chances since fumbling on his first carry in his NFL debut back in 2017.
“I thought my career was done and I was like, ‘Man, I’m a bust. It’s over with,’” Hunt recalled on Tuesday as he discussed playing in his first Super Bowl against the Philadelphia Eagles this Sunday.
Hunt remembers how Chiefs coach Andy Reid quickly approached him after the turnover during their game in New England.
“He was like, ‘Relax, man. Calm down. When we get this ball back, we’re giving it right back to you,’” Hunt said. “So that was another second chance right there. And I’m like, ‘Wow, I got to make the most of it.’”
Hunt has done just that in his return to the team that originally drafted him. After offseason surgery for a sports hernia, Hunt started the 2024 season unsigned, working out by himself at his old high school and recovering in a YMCA sauna, unsure if his NFL career was over.
“I didn’t know if the opportunity was going to come or not,” Hunt said, reflecting on his five previous seasons with the Cleveland Browns.
When Isiah Pacheco fractured his fibula in Week 2, Hunt got the call he had been waiting for—not only from the Chiefs but at a time when they were looking to become the first NFL team to win three consecutive Super Bowls.
“When I got that call, I was excited and I told them, ‘You won’t regret it,’” Hunt said.
And he’s delivered.
Hunt led the Chiefs in rushing this season with 728 yards and a team-high seven touchdowns. Even after Pacheco returned to the lineup, Hunt continued as the primary running back and added touchdowns in both of the Chiefs’ playoff wins.
“Being able to play football in February is amazing,” Hunt said. “I got to make the most of it now.”
By his second season in 2018, Hunt was already one of the NFL’s top players, helping first-year starter Patrick Mahomes lead the Chiefs to the playoffs. But in late November of that season, a video surfaced showing Hunt kicking a woman in the hall of a Cleveland hotel.
Although no charges were filed after the woman stopped cooperating with authorities, the Chiefs released Hunt.
Hunt joined the Browns in 2019 and served an eight-game suspension for violating the NFL’s personal-conduct policy. His five seasons in Cleveland, where he rushed for 2,285 yards and five touchdowns, were less productive than his first two in Kansas City.
Meanwhile, the Chiefs reached four Super Bowls, winning three, without Hunt.
Though he missed out on those titles, he’s now back to help the Chiefs try to make history.
“I almost should have never left,” Hunt said. “So, I’m just grateful to be able to come back where it all started and hopefully finish it out and do the unthinkable. And three-peat.”
