The Dolphins could use vintage performance in Tyreek Hill’s return to Arrowhead Stadium
Tyreek Hill has boundless memories from Arrowhead Stadium, a venue where he delivered iconic plays, won postseason games and began his future Hall of Fame career.
But one moment from his first season in the NFL stands out in particular.
“My favorite memory from Arrowhead was probably my rookie year when the crowed chanted my name against the Raiders, Thursday Night Football,” Hill said in front of his locker after Thursday’s practice. “That was a very special moment for me. Because as a kid, that’s what you grow up visualizing in your head. Man, I’m going to have moments like that. For that to happen to me, it was a very special moment.”
That reception likely won’t await Hill on Saturday night, when he returns to Arrowhead for the first time as a member of the Dolphins, who face the Kansas City Chiefs in the wild-card round of the playoffs.
It’s the second time Hill will face his former team this season after Miami matched up with the Chiefs in Germany in Week 9, a 21-14 loss. At the time, Hill said he was disappointed the game wasn’t being played in Kansas City. He finally gets that wish in a homecoming of sorts but he downplayed the personal magnitude of the game.
“It’s just another game, man,” Hill said. “I’m looking forward to it. Obviously I’m very excited for it. I’m not looking forward to the cold, but to see old faces again and play inside of Arrowhead is going to be a special moment for myself. It’s going to be awesome.”
Hill, 29, spent the first six years of his career in Kansas City, where he developed into the league’s most dynamic wide receiver and helped the Chiefs win a championship in the 2019 season. But in the 2022 offseason, amid a disagreement over his contract, Kansas City traded him to the Dolphins, who made him the highest-paid receiver in the NFL.
Hill accumulated a bevy of accolades playing with future Hall of Fame quarterback Patrick Mahomes but has been even better in Miami. He’s been selected to the Pro Bowl in both of his seasons in Miami, extending his streak of Pro Bowl selections to an NFL-record eight straight years for a wide receiver. This season, he fell short of his 2,000-yard receiving goal but his 1,799 yards are a career-high and lead the NFL. On Thursday, he was announced as the team’s Most Valuable Player, which is voted by the local media.
The Dolphins’ hopes of upsetting the Chiefs on the road could hinge in large part on Hill, who has eight 100-yard receiving games this season, providing a vintage performance in a place he called home for several years. They could especially use it if wide receiver Jaylen Waddle is unable to play because of an ankle injury.
Hill, though, has had some drops in key moments, but most recently one on a game-winning drive attempt in Miami’s Week 18 loss to the Buffalo Bills. Two plays later, with Hill on the sideline after taking a big hit, quarterback Tua Tagovailoa threw a game-ending interception which cost the Dolphins the AFC East title and sent them on the road for the first round of the playoffs.
Hill said the key to overcoming those mistakes is “just trying to get back to the basics.”
“I try to catch JUGS like each and every day after practice,” he said. “Even though I don’t got to, I try to get back to the things that got me to this point, which is attention to detail, the fundamentals and the techniques that the coaches taught me or even my dad taught me going back to the roots. When you’ve done so much, you’ve got to find new ways, create new ways to entertain yourself because the season is long, the season gets boring. I’ve said this before, you’ve got to find a way to fall in love with the boring things and I feel like I’d kind of gotten away from that and now I’m back to it, refocusing just on catching the ball and stuff like that and I feel like I’ll be alright.”
Coach Mike McDaniel also supported Hill.
“There are zero people, including myself, that are concerned about a pattern of whatever,” he said. “He has a high expectation to literally make every play. And in that process, there’s no such thing as a 100 percent shooter.”
Hill has had the best year of his career despite playing through multiple ailments, including an ankle and quad injury. He’s also had to compartmentalize after a scary incident in which his Southwest Ranches home caught on fire last Wednesday. His family was not hurt in the fire, which Fire Marshall Robert Taylor, of the Davie Fire Rescue Department, said was caused by two children playing with a lighter in one of the bedrooms alone. However, Hill’s mansion incurred $2,342,480 in damages and he has been unable to move back into the home.
Hill, though, offered an optimistic perspective despite it all.
“I feel like there are crazier things in the world going on,” he said. “The way that I look at it is I’m not the only person in the world having a bad day. There are other people having bad days. God has blessed me with great things and I have a great support system with teammates and family and stuff like that. I just always try to look at the positive side of things. So that’s been my whole approach throughout all of this. Although it sucks to see rooms destroyed and everything that you worked for destroyed – it sucks – but my main thing was health, making sure my kids are alright. And yeah, this gives me and my wife a chance to get closer.”
This story was originally published January 11, 2024 at 5:43 PM.
