Dolphins Player Handcuffed on Ground Before Opening Game

Tyreek Hill of the Miami Dolphins was handcuffed and placed face down on a street outside the team's stadium after he was stopped for speeding and reckless driving Sunday morning before the Dolphins' first game of the season, an incident that left the star wide receiver baffled and resulted in a police officer being placed on administrative leave, the AP reports. The officer, who was not identified, was one of at least three involved in detaining Hill. Some fans saw Hill being handcuffed and captured video on their way to the game, and it quickly went viral on social media. Miami-Dade Police director Stephanie V. Daniels said she had launched an internal affairs investigation.

Hill, who said he respects police officers and wants to be one when he retires from football, said he "had no idea" why police placed him in handcuffs. "I wasn't disrespectful because my mom didn't raise me that way," Hill said. "Didn't cuss. Didn't do none of that. Like I said, I'm still trying to figure it out, man." Hill, who is Black, said he didn't want to use his celebrity to get out of the situation but wondered what would've happened if he weren't an NFL star. "I don't want to bring race into it, but sometimes it gets kind of iffy when you do," he said. "What if I wasn't Tyreek Hill? Lord knows what that guy or guys would have done. I was just making sure that I was doing what my uncle always told me to do whenever you're in a situation like that: 'Just listen, put your hands on the steering wheel and just listen.'"

Defensive tackle Calais Campbell said he was driving into Hard Rock Stadium when he saw Hill handcuffed, and he stopped to help. The 17-year NFL veteran ended up in handcuffs as well, saying officers told him it was because he disobeyed their direct orders. "I'd seen, I feel like excessive force, so I get out of the car to kind of just try to de-escalate the situation," Campbell said, also calling the incident "a bit extreme." NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy said the league has been in contact with the Dolphins, but declined to comment further.

(More Miami Dolphins stories.)