Inside the Kansas City Chiefs' History With Domestic Violence

According to USA TODAY Sports’ NFL player arrest database, the Kansas City Chiefs have recorded the third-most domestic violence arrests or charges since January 2000. (Denver and Miami are ahead of them.)

But, thanks to high-profile incidents involving Kareem Hunt and Tyreek Hill as well as the acquisition of defensive end Frank Clark this April — who was kicked off his college team for abuse allegations — the Chiefs have become the NFL franchise most associated with domestic violence.

As it so happens, that association is somewhat justified as it clearly goes back much farther than Hunt and Hill. In 2012, the Chiefs had two domestic murder-suicides, one at the hands of player Jovan Belcher and the other at the hands a team stadium operations employee.

Prior to that, running back Larry Johnson who starred with the team from 2003 to 2009, faced two domestic cases and two others involving alleged abuse against women during his tenure with the club.

Johnson, 39, said Chiefs ownership was “more upset about the image it cast” than the charges themselves.

Speaking with USA TODAY Sports, Chiefs president Mark Donovan said Kansas City does “as much, if not more than any other team in the National Football League” to support players who join the Chiefs with histories of domestic violence.

He also said a decision about Hill, who is on the Commissioner’s Exempt list for the time being and is away from the team, has not been made yet.

“We haven’t made a decision on the Tyreek stuff, and that’s because we haven’t gathered all the information, and I think the league is still in the process of that,” Donovan said. “We gathered the information on Kareem Hunt, and we made a decision. And we go through the same process. It’s a process that’s important to our culture. It’s important to our organization. It’s important to being a member of this community.”

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