Fox broadcast captured the moment Tyreek Hill seemingly quit on Dolphins

With the NFL offseason already underway for the league’s non-playoff teams, one of the biggest storylines has already taken shape in the form of Tyreek Hill’s uncertain future with the Miami Dolphins.

After exiting the Dolphins’ 2024 regular season finale — a 32-20 loss to the New York Jets — under mysterious circumstances, Hill made it clear he had played his final game for Miami. Meanwhile, Dolphins head coach Mike McDaniel seemingly implied that the five-time first-team All-Pro had voluntarily removed himself from the game, effectively quitting on his team.

“I was informed that he was unavailable right before a drive,” McDaniel told reporters, according to Pro Football Talk. “I was not informed that it was a new injury, and I think at that point of time my focus was on the players and I didn’t take the time to go and try and figure out more into that. There were guys on the field that were competing, and we were trying to win a game, so my focus was there.”

While McDaniel never specifically stated that Hill had left the game on his own accord, there’s now footage from the contest that many have taken as confirmation of that being the case. Taking to X late Wednesday night, one Dolphins fan shared a clip from the Fox broadcast of the game, in which Jaylen Waddle can be heard asking the fellow wide receiver about his status.

“Hey Cheetah, you done?” Waddle can be heard saying, addressing Tyreek Hill by his nickname.

Some inaudible shouting can then be heard before quickly — and perhaps fittingly — being drowned out by the Curb Your Enthusiasm theme.

I found this nugget while rewatching the game. This wasn’t just quitting on his team, it was quitting on everyone who believed in him: the fans, the coaches, and even his family. The moment Waddle asked Reek if he was done, it became painfully clear, he gave up. That choice… pic.twitter.com/uLe4anxuLb

— TCBHammer (@HammerTcb) January 9, 2025

While it’s always possible that Waddle was asking Tyreek Hill about his status with regard to an injury, the 30-year-old wideout didn’t do himself any favors with his postgame comments. In fact, he even admitted that the Denver Broncos’ lead over the Kansas City Chiefs played a role in his exit from the contest, as Miami needed the Chiefs to beat the Broncos in order to make the playoffs.

“Just one of those issues, man, that like you know, you look up at the scoreboard, Chiefs are down [to the Broncos] and it’s like, OK,” Hill said.

In the days since, Dolphins brass has done its best to say all of the right things, with McDaniel and general manager Chris Grier saying that they’ve already had “productive conversations” with the star wide receiver.” Then again, that’s exactly what one would expect the team to say to maximize its potential trade leverage and based on the reaction to the aforementioned video, moving on from Tyreek Hill would hardly be an unpopular move in Miami.