Kansas City radio talk show hosts Danny Parkins and Carrington Harrison were unhappy over the weekend when the Chiefs selected Tyreek Hill in the fifth round. Hill pleaded guilty last year in Oklahoma to punching and choking his pregnant girlfriend and was given three years of probation. To be the voices that truly stood out on the issue, though, Parkins and Harrison needed to do more than talk about it. “Everybody was just kind of fingerwagging and trying to be the most outraged about domestic violence,’’ said Parkins, who with Harrison is a co-host of a weekday afternoon sports talk show on KCSP. “It’s obvious that’s the correct stance but it’s also the easiest stance to have. Everybody is against domestic violence. “We just thought we shouldn’t just talk about it. We should be about it. We can’t change the fact the Chiefs drafted Tyreek Hill. None of us can change that. So let’s see if we can turn a negative into a positive.’’ So Parkins and Harrison started a fundraiser for the Rose Brooks Center, a Kansas City shelter for abused women and children. They hoped to raise at least $5,000 but are over $11,000. “It’s been incredible,’’ Parkins said. “We’ve had over 300 individual donations. Somebody donated $1,000. One person called up our producer and left a credit card number because he was driving and couldn’t make the donation himself. We were $366 away from $10,000, so he donated $366 on the spot. “It’s been cool to see.’’ The Chiefs defended their selection of Hill. On the KCSP fundraiser, they said, “The Chiefs think what Danny and Carrington are doing is a good way to use their platform.’’ The drafting of Hill has been a hot topic in Kansas City and on the radio talk shows. Harrison indicated sentiment against the Chiefs for making the pick is running at about 85 percent. “A lot of people are in the strong, ‘Why did they draft him because he shouldn’t even be on their board?’ and ‘The Chiefs preach character and how can you preach character and draft Tyreek Hill?’ ’’ Harrison said. “I think the sentiments for second chances are there and the belief that what you do at 19 or 20 years old shouldn’t necessarily define your life and that the Chiefs drafted him and there’s nothing you can really do about it so you’ve got to try to accept and hope that it works out.’’
|