Tyreek Hill reacts to Ryan Clark telling him face to face, ‘That’s not leadership’

Miami Dolphins wide receiver Tyreek Hill capped off his third season with the team on a sour note. In Miami’s season finale against the New York Jets on Jan. 5, Hill contributed only 20 receiving yards on two receptions. Not only that, but Hill was seemingly caught on camera quitting on the Dolphins in the second half of the game.

Then, after his underwhelming showing, Hill spoke to the media and implied that he no longer wanted to be a member of the Dolphins.

Later, ESPN’s Ryan Clark called out the receiver. Recently, Hill and Clark spoke in person, and the 30-year-old reacted with maturity to being told that how he handled himself in Week 18 was “not leadership.”

“Here’s what I said about you,” Clark said after Hill accused of him of talking trash. “When you go into the locker room and you say what you said, that’s not leadership to me. And I’ll say that to your face. I’m never gonna say anything about y’all that I wouldn’t say in front of y’all because I know I paint a certain picture.

“I’m pro-player all the time, but in that situation, you a leader, right? And people will look at you not only for what you do in Miami, but for what you do overall. You better than that, in my opinion.”

Hill offered a mature response.

“You right,” Hill said. “I feel just like you said, you know what I’m saying? I feel exactly like you said, though. No bad blood against anybody.”

There were questions about Hill’s future in Miami in the wake of the Dolphins’ season ending, but those rumors have seemingly died down in recent days. NFL insider Tom Pelissero reported a few days back that the Dolphins are not going to deal Hill. Pelissero made that assertion during a segment on Super Bowl Sunday. Hill has also clarified that he’s committed to Miami.

Hill’s emotions were maybe running high when he made his comments after Miami fell to the lowly Jets. The Dolphins would’ve needed to win that game and get some help elsewhere to make the playoffs. Instead, Miami missed out on the playoffs for the first time since Hill was traded to the team. It marked the first time in the veteran’s career that he missed the postseason.

To add insult to injury, Miami’s loss to the Jets marked the end of a down year for Hill from an individual standpoint. He’s accustomed to racking up 1,000-plus receiving yards season after season, yet he totaled just 959 across 17 starts in his third season in Miami.

Previously, the last time he had failed to total quadruple digits in receiving yards in a campaign came when he played in only 12 games with the Kansas City Chiefs in the 2019 season.