Record crowd cheers his name as amped-up Tyreek Hill takes field for Chiefs at camp

Safety Jordan Lucas was the first player to appear, walking down the path through cheering fans to the Chiefs’ practice field.

“MVP” chants greeted quarterback Patrick Mahomes, and later the fans let out whoops for Chris Jones, the defensive lineman who didn’t participate in off-season workouts with the Chiefs while negotiating a new contract.

But perhaps the loudest cheers went to another player who hadn’t been with the team in months.

“Ty-reek! Ty-reek! Ty-reek!”

Wide receiver Tyreek Hill seemed to feed on the energy as he made his way to the turf. He jogged, pumped his fists and high stepped. Nobody seemed more eager to take the field than Hill.

In April, Chiefs general manager Brett Veach announced that Hill had been suspended from team activities as a result of a child abuse investigation. The All-Pro wide receiver missed OTAs and mini-camp.

Two weeks ago, the NFL announced that Hill would not be disciplined because he did not violate the league’s personal conduct policy.

After practice, Hill stopped to sign autographs and once again was greeted by fans chanting his name.

“Yes, I did too,” said Tonya Navarro of Emporia, Kan., who took in practice. “We were pretty devastated for a few months there. We’re fans, and we’re glad to see him back. I hope he has a great year.”

At practice

During a short practice, Hill flashed his familiar skills. He dashed past rookie cornerback Rashad Fenton for a deep reception and hauled in two more long balls from Patrick Mahomes.

“He liked it did some good things, a couple of nice grabs,” coach Andy Reid said.

As for positions ...

• Andrew Wylie ran with the first team at left guard ahead of Cam Erving, which was the case during OTAs. Erving started 13 games last season.
• Safety Armani Watts has a rib injury and didn’t practice.
• Cornerback Breshard Breeland found his way to the injury tent with a lacerated thumb. So D’Montre Wade, a second-year free agent from Murray State, worked in at the starting role and had an interception. “I liked that,” Reid said. “He got an opportunity...any opportunity you can get at this level, and you show up. That’s important.”
• The crowd of 8,000 was the largest ever for a practice at the facility and marked only the second time in the last decade the Chiefs have trained here that the parking lots couldn’t hold all the traffic. Cars were parked on the grass.. The bleachers were full and so was the hill behind the end zones. Fans stood shoulder to shoulder, two deep in some places, along the fence.

This story was originally published July 27, 2019 at 4:07 PM.