Tyreek Hill shares sad story behind his reason for playing football

Miami Dolphins wideout Tyreek Hill has been busy during his time off of the practice field with the team having finished their OTAs and minicamp.

Between developmental camps, Hill has been hosting his podcast, “It Needed to be Said,” the first episode of which garnered a ton of attention for his comments regarding his departure from Kansas City and his comparisons between Patrick Mahomes and his new quarterback, Tua Tagovailoa.

The second episode of the podcast came out on Tuesday, and the wideout discussed a number of topics, including the criticism he received after the debut.

One of the more eye-opening discussions during the episode was regarding Hill’s love of football and the reason he plays the game and wants to make the millions of dollars that he is.

“I’ve been playing football my whole life, my whole entire life,” Hill said. “Football is really all I know… Football was my moneymaker. When I was in high school, I had a chance to really learn about the game of football, and I knew football was going to take care of me and my family. My senior year of high school, me and my grandparents, we’re living together. We didn’t have no lights for a whole entire year, so I had no electricity, so basically I was homeless. There would be some nights my mom would just cry all night, and then I’d just wake up and then just go try to comfort her and show her some love. I can just remember telling myself from then on that we’ll never ever live like that ever again in my whole entire life. If I’m on this Earth, my parents won’t live like that.

“Before I went to JUCO, I told my mom ‘We’ll never ever live like that again. When I come back, I promise you, I’m gonna be a millionaire, and I’m then gonna move you out of the situation that you’re in.’ So, let’s fast forward to today. The reason I play this game is for my family. I do this [expletive] for my family.”

Hill, coming from Pearson, Georgia, experienced struggles and hardship growing up, and he doesn’t want his family to have to go through that again. That’s why he’s been so appreciative of the $54 million extension he received with the Chiefs, and the $120 million extension he got when he was traded to Miami.

These stories really put a lot of things in perspective and show why Hill is who he is.