Cleveland Browns running back Kareem Hunt said Monday that he "learned" from an incident in January, in which he admitted to police that he would fail a drug test for marijuana following a traffic stop.
"I would say that was out of character," Hunt said. "I've been working to become a better person each and every day. Definitely not looking for anything like that to happen again. ... I've got to do better. Shouldn't have done it. Ready to move on from that."
On Jan. 21, Hunt was pulled over on suspicion of speeding in Rocky River, a suburb of Cleveland. According to the police report, the officer took Hunt to the police cruiser after detecting the smell of marijuana coming out of the car. The officer then found marijuana in a backpack with Hunt's name on it, as well as an open container of vodka, but cited him only for speeding.
Hunt, who said he was on the way to the airport to catch a flight, initially told the officer the marijuana was his brother's, but when pressed as to whether he would fail a drug test, Hunt admitted he would.
"It's the offseason," Hunt answered. "Sorry, I was having a good time."
Last year, Hunt served an eight-game suspension for violating the NFL's personal conduct policy. He had been released by the Kansas City Chiefs in November 2018 after video from February 2018 surfaced of him kicking a woman in downtown Cleveland. He signed with the Browns in February of last year.
On dashcam video of the traffic stop that police released, Hunt appeared emotional talking about his former team, which had just advanced the Super Bowl.
"It hurts my soul. Like, you don't understand, I've been fighting a lot of s--- lately, man. It still hurts me to this day," Hunt told the officer. "I love Cleveland, I love the Browns, but you don't understand, I'm just the worst person in the world sometimes, like, I guess. And I don't even do nothing. Try to help everybody."
Hunt said Monday that he had "moved on from that," and was "very happy" the Chiefs won the Super Bowl.
"I love those guys," he said. "I've got brothers on that team. They deserved that."
Hunt said the new Browns regime, which includes first-year general manager Andrew Berry and head coach Kevin Stefanski, have told him the incident was "unacceptable." In February, Browns owner Jimmy Haslam, who was behind signing Hunt after the Chiefs released him, called it "not good."
"What he did was not acceptable," Haslam said. "He's got to do better."