When the Chiefs report to training camp later this week, Tyreek Hill will be there. The star receiver will be allowed to practice, and he will enter the 2019 season without any penalty for the child-abuse investigation or the threatening comments he made, on a secret recording, to the mother of his three children, Crystal Espinal, during the offseason.

The NFL released its decision last week stating that it did not have enough evidence to conclude that Hill violated the Personal Conduct Policy.

In the end, the NFL stated that they could not prove who harmed the child during the incident, Hill or Espinal. It should be noted that neither were criminally charged as the local DA also could not determine who broke the child’s arm.

What many, myself included, find troubling is that the NFL did not address the threat Hill made to Espinal that was on the recording. Similar threats made by players have led to investigations and fines/suspensions.

Hill is clearly heard stating ‘You need to be terrified of me, too, dumb b—-’. This threat, which Hill has admitted he made, constitutes a violation of the personal conduct policy as it is written. The first item in the policy’s list of prohibited behaviors is “actual or threatened physical violence against another person.” Last year, Ravens cornerback Jimmy Smith was suspended four games by the NFL for “evidence of threatening and emotional abusive behaviors … that showed a pattern of improper conduct.”

The findings again put into question the consistency of the NFL and commissioner Roger Goodell when placed into a judge and jury role. Players and teams have to be wondering about the inconsistencies.

ACC Is Top-Heavy

ACC football appears to be on the decline again. I say that after looking back and seeing that the conference only had two teams, national champions Clemson and No. 15 Syracuse finish in the top 25 of the final AP rankings.

It was just a few years ago (2016) that the ACC produced its best football season ever. Eight teams won a bowl game, seven teams finished in the top 25 of the final Sagarin computer rankings, Louisville quarterback Lamar Jackson won the Heisman Trophy and Clemson won the national title.

The only thing that remains the same for the ACC, heading into the 2019 college football season, is that Clemson is coming off of a national title.

Mack Brown

While Syracuse, N.C. State and Wake Forest have improved of late, Clemson is now the ACC’s only threat to make the college playoffs. The Tigers are clearly primed for a fifth straight ACC title and will likely contend for a third national title in four years. Their domination (30-2 in ACC play the past four years) is starting to look a lot like the Florida State machine from the 1990s.

Speaking of Florida State, the Seminoles have clearly fallen off the map. In former head coach Jimbo Fisher’s last season in 2017, the Noles fell to 3-5 in the ACC and 7-6 overall. He left for Texas A&M, and under Willie Taggart last season, the Seminoles repeated their 3-5 league mark and finished 5-7 and out of a bowl game for the first time in 37 years.

Louisville fell quickly after Jackson left for the NFL. The Cardinals went winless in ACC play and six of its conference losses were by at least three touchdowns, including a 61-point massacre at Clemson. An incredible seven of the Cards’ 10 overall losses were by 30 points or more.

What about Miami you ask? The Hurricanes started the 2017 season with a 10-0 record and then Mark Richt’s team dropped the final three games of ‘17 and went 4-6 against “Power 5” opponents in ‘18. Richt has since retired and Miami also has to start over.

Virginia Tech used to be good. But that was a long time ago when Frank Beamer was coaching the Hokies.

Don’t even get me started on how inept the North Carolina schools have fared of late in the ACC. But Mack Brown is back at North Carolina. Can he do it again on his return visit to Chapel Hill?