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The Kansas City Chiefs fell to the Cincinnati Bengals in the AFC championship game, officially ending their season.
After leading 21-3 late in the second quarter, this one stung for the Chiefs and that goes for superstar Tyreek Hill as much as anyone. In overtime, the wide receiver saw a deep ball get knocked off his hands for the interception that set up the game-winning drive.
Just after it was over, Cincinnati Bengals cornerback Eli Apple attempted to pour salt in the wounds of Hill and KC. He tweeted: “Oh yea that chiefs cheetah pack finna hit way crazier the 2nd time.”
But it didn’t end there.
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Apple Provokes Hill
The initial tweet from Apple caught a lot of attention but a follow-up provoked a response from Hill and a teammate. A fan admitted: “As much s*** as you’ll get, I gotta concede you had the game-winning play here.”
He linked a video of Apple’s touchdown-saving stop before halftime on a designed motion-pass to Hill in the flat. If the Chiefs had scored seven at that moment, they would have led 28-10 going into quarter three. Being that they lost 27-24, you could argue that the cornerback’s tackle saved the game.
This is where Apple dug in further, quote tweeting the video with the comment: “He’s a baby! @cheetah [Hill’s Twitter handle].”
It’s clear that Apple was trying to elicit a response from the speedy wide-out and finally, Hill decided to get involved but he did not take the bait. “No Twitter beef big dog just hit my line,” the Chiefs star wrote back in a civilized manner.
KC teammate Mecole Hardman was quick to support Hill, stating: “Yeah Hit my line too…” With the deuces/peace symbol next to it.
Other players ignored the “beef” entirely, focusing on the future after another great season for KC. Running back Darrel Williams tweeted: “Thank you #ChiefsKingdom.”
That’s all the Chiefs were willing to give, but it didn’t stop Apple from running his mouth.
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Apple Twitter Storm Rages On
The former first-round draft bust with the New York Giants was feeling great after the Bengals victory and he fired off a bunch of tweets to let the whole world know it.
He did eventually reply to Hill and Hardman, taunting: “Aye @MecoleHardman4 @cheetah dm me yall number and I’ll hook yall up wit them super bowl tickets on me.”
Earlier, Apple added: “When you walk in the lions den you don’t walk in top toeing nah you kick that door down screaming like a banshee and say where them m*ers at.”
He continued: “Down 11 at the half that Def stepped up ! Put some respect on our names.”
Apple also shouted out Tre Flowers for his defense on Travis Kelce. “And @_Slimm7 locked up 87, he’s like that !”
Then, the CB posted a celebratory photo with a cigar and the AFC trophy before one final message for Hill.
Apple retweeted a clip from Akon’s music video for the song, “Locked Up,” with the caption: “Tyreek Hill in the second half.”
Finally on January 31, the Bengals player wrote, “Oh nahh that Arrow Head Pack way louder than the crowd was ooouuuweeee,” referring to the Cincy fans in attendance.
Although Hill and Kelce had great first halves, they were both shut down from there on out. Including overtime, the Cheetah had zero catches after halftime and his tight end counterpart only had one short gain before going four for 33 on the final field goal drive to tie it in regulation.
Kelce was not targeted in OT but Hill did have the aforementioned tipped ball interception go off his hands.
Apple and this secondary definitely deserve a ton of credit for the Bengals’ epic comeback but the lack of humility from the 26-year old shows he still has a lot to learn. The Ohio State product was released by the Giants and New Orleans Saints for his behavior as much as his on-field performance.
Former NYG safety Landon Collins called Apple a “cancer” when he was in New York and his trip to NOLA ended just as poorly. As for his lack of maturity after the AFC title game, the phrase “act like you’ve been there before” comes to mind.
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