Well, that escalated quickly.
After Kareem Hunt was cut by the Chiefs on Friday following the release of video showing the running back shoving and kicking a woman inside a Cleveland hotel last February, he was also cut loose by thousands of fantasy players on Yahoo.
As of late Friday night, Hunt had been dropped by more than 80,000 owners not long after Kansas City gave him the boot. His ownership fell from 100 percent to 91 percent just hours after being shown the door in Kansas City.
Hunt’s ownership in ESPN leagues remained at 99.9 percent, but undoubtedly that will change. Hunt was enjoying an impressive second season in the NFL. He had 1,202 yards from scrimmage (824 rushing, 378 receiving) and 14 total touchdowns, becoming a consistent fantasy performer alongside Patrick Mahomes, the highest-scoring fantasy quarterback this season.
Kansas City’s remaining running backs, Spencer Ware and Damien Williams, on the other hand, were being added throughout the day on Yahoo. Ware, who will start on Sunday against the lowly Raiders, was added in more than 580,000 leagues (a 68 percent increase) Friday, while Williams was added in more than 115,000 (an increase of 13 percent over his previous ownership).
Amazingly, there were still some fantasy owners who believed this was the right time to pounce on the opportunity to own the now-controversial running back. Hunt was added by more than 500 Yahoo owners, who may want him in keeper leagues. Or perhaps they believe the 5-foot-11 star will come back this season or his stats from the previous 12 weeks will count for their teams.