Tyreek Hill Explains the Meanings Behind His Most Personal Tattoos
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Tyreek Hill, the Kansas City Chiefs wide receiver known to fans as "the cheetah" on account of his incredible speed on the football field, usually shares insights into his offseason training on his YouTube channel. In a recent video, however, he sits down and answers a question that he's been asked a lot throughout his career: What do all of those tattoos mean?
Hill was just 14 when he got his first ink; 'LIL' on his left forearm and 'MOAN' on his right, after a nickname he used to have in middle school. "Probably one of my butthead decisions," he admits, "because I still look at this tattoo every day like 'What? Why did I get that?'"
Further up his arms on his biceps are his second tattoo (his initials), and his third and fourth (the initials of his mother and grandmother) on his triceps. "Those are the two who really supported me throughout everything I've been through in my life," he says.
After that, he covered his right arm in a sleeve, which took around eight hours to complete. "I went in one day and I was like 'Hey, could you just freestyle me an arm sleeve?'"
On the back of his right hand, he has the face of a cheetah, in honor of his nickname in the NFL. Then, on each of his fingers, he has S.R.4.L.: Soul Runner 4 Life, which is the name of Hill's clothing brand. "These two are probably my favorite tattoos, but they hurt like crap," he says.
Hill got a lot of his ink in high school. Then, when he went to college, he impulsively got a gun on his stomach. "I don't know why I've got a gun tatted on me, I don't know what I was thinking," he says. "No idea how to explain that one... My dad always told me a real man doesn't need a gun, so, yeah, sorry dad." As if trying to cancel out the gun, right next to it is an inked image of a hand making the peace sign.
Above that are the words "THUG LIFE", an homage to Tupac, one of Hill's icons, and on his side are a pair of headphones. "Music is my escape route when I'm dealing with adversity," he says. "I put on some jams and just zone out and fly with the clouds and do whatever."
"I really feel like I'm done getting tattoos," he continues. "The saying is once you get one or two or three you're going to continue to want more, but I feel like I'm really done with tattoos... I've moved past that stage in my life."
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