Thirteen days ago, Kareem Hunt was without a job, spending his Friday evening taking in a Cleveland Guardians baseball game at Progressive Field.
Two days later, Chiefs running back Isiah Pacheco suffered a fractured fibula in a Week 2 win over Cincinnati, knocking him out of action for considerable time and creating a need for an experienced running back in Kansas City. That's when the Chiefs dialed Hunt, and before long, he'd joined the team's practice squad.
The moment brought Hunt full circle, sending him back to the team with whom he began his NFL career and departed in disgrace six years ago. In what could be his final significant opportunity in the NFL, the 29-year-old back is eager to prove he can still get the job done in the same uniform in which he first made a name for himself.
"Yeah, I believe I'm very capable of that still," Hunt said Wednesday. "I'm excited to go help shock the world and show them I've still got it."
Hunt began his career with a bang, rushing for a league-best 1,327 yards and eight touchdowns in 2017 as part of the same rookie class as superstar quarterback Patrick Mahomes. Despite Mahomes quickly establishing himself as an elite player in the NFL, it was Hunt who made his mark on the league first.
That run ended after 2018, though, when Hunt was involved in a physical altercation with a woman in a Cleveland hotel that led to his placement on the Reserve/Commissioner Exempt List and release from the Chiefs in December. He spent the next five seasons as a tandem back alongside Nick Chubb in Cleveland, contributing 2,285 rushing yards and 25 touchdowns during a run that ended relatively quietly despite tallying 10 rushing scores in 2023.
Now, Hunt is back in a familiar place with a team that enjoyed great success without him, winning three Super Bowls in the last five years. While Hunt was "thrilled" for his former Chiefs teammates, he admitted "it was hard" to see them succeed without him. He feels fortunate to receive a second chance to play for Andy Reid with the same goal: Win another title.
There is the question of acclimation. While Hunt finds himself in a familiar place -- so familiar, in fact, he quickly noticed "the building smelled the same" -- he'll have to prove that he still has enough left in the tank to make a difference.
"I said, 'These guys know me. I just gotta go and be myself,' " Hunt said.
He's already cleared one hurdle when it comes to being himself, taking time to get healthy after playing through a groin issue for much of 2023. Next, he'll have to find a way to fit into an offense dominated by Mahomes, whom Hunt considers to be a close friend.
That part shouldn't be so difficult.
"I see a lot of talent around here," Hunt said. "They've had a bunch of talent ever since I was here. Seeing the way Pat has grown and matured and became the leader of this team -- because my rookie year, I played with Alex (Smith), and he was like that -- so I feel like, just seeing the player he turned into, I couldn't be happier."
Hunt has kept himself out of trouble since he left Kansas City, but understandably still fielded questions about his past transgressions Wednesday. That will be part of the acclimation, too: proving to the Chiefs fan base that his past is nothing more than that, which Hunt said was part of Reid's advice to him upon his return to the team.
"He knows what type of person I am," Hunt said of Reid. "He just said, 'Man, do what you've been doing, keep your nose clean and stay focused, and everything's going to come full circle for you.' "
For NFL fans who have watched the sport for more than the last decade, Sunday may present them with a remarkably surprising visual: Hunt taking the field in a Chiefs uniform a half-decade after he last donned their threads.
It will be surreal to him, too, but might come at the perfect time for a Chiefs team that could undoubtedly use him.
"It's still hard to envision," Hunt said. "I guess once that day comes, it's going to feel real. It's been a long time coming. I can't wait to put on the red again and go out there with these guys and put it all on the line for them. I envision going out there, and whatever I'm asked to do, do it at the highest level and help find a way to keep this winning going on around here."
