NFL 2022: Miami Dolphins Tyreek Hill rekindles old rivalry with Cincinnati Bengals Eli Apple

The Cincinnati Bengals are hosting the Miami Dolphins in Thursday Night Football in Week 4 of the 2022 NFL season. While from the outside it may look like a regular game, a rivalry between players is brewing in the game, the origin of which can be traced back to the 2021 season.

The Bengals beat the Kansas City Chiefs in the 2021 season in an AFC championship game to qualify for the Super Bowl and following the win, Cincinnati cornerback Eli Apple called then Kansas wide receiver Tyreek Hill, who plays for the Dolphins now, a baby.

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Apple also offered to buy Hill and wide receiver Mecole Hardman tickets to the Super Bowl. However, Hill opted to not react to Apple’s comments, only saying “no Twitter beef” and suggesting that the cornerback should message him personally.

However, while the rivalry did not formulate in the previous season, it has now. Ahead of the Week 4 game between the Bengals and the Dolphins, Hill reportedly said that he can’t wait to face Eli Apple and added, “I owe you, boy.”

Tyreek Hill went on to call himself “Cheetah” as he said, “I owe you. I’m here. The Cheetah is here. Let’s eat.” The rivalry just began from there.

Tua Tagovailoa, the Dolphins’ starting quarterback, fuelled the fire by saying that he will be giving Tyreek Hill a shot if the pair matches up face-to-face in the game.

“If Tyreek’s matched up with him and we call the play for Tyreek, and it’s one-on-one, I’m giving Tyreek a shot.” the quarterback said: 

“Just know that (Hill) is getting the ball (in those situations).” he added.

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The Bengals did not back down from commenting as safety Jessie Bates said that if any opposition player targets Eli Apple, he will be targeting all Bengals players.

“I don’t know if Eli got him tickets to the Super Bowl last year or not,” Bates quipped. “I think that’s probably why he’s a little upset… If somebody comes after Eli, he comes after all of us, we’re all up for the challenge,” he added.

This time, Apple has opted to not speak, but the drama continues.