This article is more than 1 year old

This article is more than 1 year old

Kareem Hunt has acknowledged lying to the Kansas City Chiefs about his role in a February assault in a Cleveland hotel that ultimately led to his release this week.

“The Chiefs did what was right,” he said, during a live interview with ESPN.

The NFL’s reigning rushing champion also said league officials never spoke to him about the incident while conducting their own investigation.

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On Friday, Hunt was preparing to play against the Oakland Raiders this weekend when the TMZ Sports website posted the grainy but graphic security video. It showed Hunt knocking a woman to the floor, then kicking her.

In the course of a few hours, Hunt was sent home, placed on the NFL’s Commissioner Exemption List, and finally released by his team.

A Chiefs statement said: “Earlier this year, we were made aware of an incident involving running back Kareem Hunt. At that time, the National Football League and law enforcement initiated investigations into the issue.”

Police were called to the Cleveland incident but no charges were filed.

The Chiefs statement continued: “As part of our internal discussions with Kareem, several members of our management team spoke directly to him. Kareem was not truthful in those discussions.”

Speaking to ESPN, Hunt said: “I didn’t tell them everything. I don’t blame them for anything. My actions caused this.”

In a statement on Sunday, the NFL said its investigation began immediately after the incident in February and that it “continues to pursue a complete understanding of the facts”.

“The NFL’s ongoing investigation will include further attempts to speak to the complainants involved in the incident,” the league said. “It will include a review of the new information that was made public on Friday which was not available to the NFL previously as well as further conversations with all parties involved in the incident.”

The statement did not say if the league had attempted to contact Hunt.

Hunt said he may have anger issues and is seeking professional help, and that he was not sure another NFL team would give him an opportunity. If he got the chance to speak to the woman in the video, he said, he would say: “I am sorry for my actions that night.”

He said several times he was “embarrassed” and insisted: “I know right from wrong.”

On Saturday the former Baltimore Ravens running back Ray Rice discussed the case with NFL Network. Rice never played again after the release in 2014 of a video which showed him punching his wife.

Rice said he would like to help Hunt, “because he has a long life to live, this will be a defining moment, but it shouldn’t be the moment that defines you.

“For me, I just see you have a long life to live and that doesn’t mean just playing football. You need to just live one day at a time.”