Former Chiefs running back Kareem Hunt apologized and expressed shame in a Sunday morning ESPN interview for a February altercation where he shoved and kicked a woman in the hallway of a Cleveland hotel.
"I just wanted to let the world know how sorry I am for my actions," Hunt said. "It's been a tough time for me. I'm extremely embarrassed because of that video."
Hunt, who was released by the Chiefs after being placed on the NFL's Commissioner Exempt List on Friday, was seen on the video shoving and kicking a 19-year-old woman in the early hours of Feb. 10.
Speaking for the first time publicly since TMZ released video of the assault on Friday afternoon, Hunt told ESPN's Lisa Salters that he had not seen the video until TMZ published it on Friday.
"I just thought of myself as being just not me," Hunt said of his reaction to seeing the video. "I was raised better than that. I'm not the type of person to ever even think about putting my hands on anyone. A woman, a girl. It doesn't matter."
Asked if he had anger management issues, Hunt said it was a possibility. Hunt was not asked by Salters about a June incident in which he allegedly punched a man at an Ohio resort.
"It could be an issue," he said. "Everybody gets a little angry sometimes. I'm going to get treatment on it."
Hunt added that he has not undergone counseling since the incident, but he's in talks to get it set up.
Hunt said that he was never approached by the NFL to talk about the February incident, and according to league sources, the NFL did reach out to the woman and her friend multiple times, but were unsuccessful in talking to them.
The Star has also been unsuccessful in attempts to contact the woman who was shoved and kicked by Hunt.
Hunt was released Friday following the release of the TMZ video after the team determined that Hunt was "not truthful" in his discussions with the Chiefs about what occurred.
"They believed that I lied to them," Hunt said. "I lied to them. They pretty much said 'we love you, everybody cares about you, and just we've got to let you go. We all care about you.' It was a tough conversation, and the Chiefs, they did what was right.
"I made a poor decision and I'm willing to take full responsibility of any actions that come from this point on."
Hunt said Sunday he didn't tell the Chiefs everything about the incident and that there weren't any hard feelings between him and the organization.
"I regret not getting it all out there," Hunt said, asked what he regretted about the situation. "I regret my decision that I did that night. It was a big, big mistake. ... I regret the entire thing. Everything. I'm going to take the time to better myself and learn from this. Get some help if needed, talk to people."
Per NFL Network, Hunt faces more than the baseline six-game suspension for violating the NFL's personal conduct policy, and the league is investigating the June incident, which could result in additional discipline.
"I'm asking for forgiveness," Hunt said. "I definitely believe I deserve forgiveness. Everything is really happening fast right now. I just want everybody to forgive me and I know it's going to be hard. I made a bad choice, and I'm not going to let this bring me down.
"I think I deserve (forgiveness) because if you really know me and everybody that I'm really close to, I've had really close women that are friends. Everybody. I'm so respectful to everyone. I made a bad decision at that time. I just hope that people forgive me."
