What is going on with Tamba Hali and the Chiefs? A timeline

Let’s start this story at the true beginning, and that’s six days before the Kansas City Chiefs’ first open training camp practice.

Saturday afternoon, July 22

Tamba Hali goes off on Twitter, saying that the seven snaps in the previous season’s playoff loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers was not enough and that he should have been used more.

Monday afternoon, July 24

Andy Reid speaks to the media for the first time at Chiefs training camp, and he is of course asked about the weekend tweets and whether Hali should have played more

Reid: “The one thing you love about Tamba is he loves to play. I can’t tell you he is getting any younger. I can’t tell you that. I do love the fact that he bugs on you that he wants to play. As coaches, we have to make that decision. We make a decision that if he plays seven plays or 27 plays or 47 plays. That is what we do. Is a player always going to be happy about it? No, but that is not how it works. Do I love the fact that he wants to play? Yeah. He is going to be 50 years old and probably still tweeting out those things that he wants to get in his plays. Will I talk to him when he gets here? Yes, we do not want to do it through the social media part of it. Let’s just talk about it and if you have a problem let’s talk about it.”

Tuesday night, July 25

Hali hosts an Instagram and Facebook Live and essentially doubles down. During the broadcast he says he’s looking forward to seeing fans in St. Joseph, leading me to believe Hali thought he’d be practicing. He also says that his knee is good.

Hali: “The knee’s doing good, guys. I’ve been doing everything I have to make sure my knee is properly (healed). Obviously, the coaches did what they had to do. Come on guys, anybody who loves the game, seven plays against the Steelers? Come on. I shouldn’t care, but I’m a competitor and I love to compete. Sadly, seven plays in the playoff, in the biggest game of my career.”

Friday, July 28

Terez Paylor of the Kansas City Star reports that Hali will start camp on the PUP list.

Saturday, July 29

Hali speaks to the media even though he is technically injured, being on the PUP list. Typically the Chiefs hold players who are injured back from speaking to the media.

Hali says he regrets airing his grievances through social media:

Hali: “I would do it different. I would probably do it a little bit different. I wouldn’t be on Twitter doing it the way I did. I probably would have contacted coach (Reid) just to figure it out behind closed doors because I think it got blown out of proportion based on the fact that we have training camp and we are getting ready for the Super Bowl champs. So everything got blown out.”

NOTE: It’s important to note that from this point forward, Hali is much less active on social media when it comes to the Chiefs.

Saturday, September 2

At the official release of the 53-man roster cuts, Hali does not make the club. He will instead stay on the PUP list, meaning he’ll miss the first 6 weeks of the season.

Joel writes, “This Tamba situation does seem a little weird. However, I think the Chiefs are going to be able to handle it.”

Friday, September 29

These photos appear on Hali’s Instagram story, indicating he has been working out:

Friday, October 20

With Hali now eligible to come off of the PUP list, Reid is asked about it on the weekly conference call. Reid is mum on the situation.

“He’s feeling OK,” Reid says. “We’ll address all that as we go here. We got back late. We’re going through everything now, but he’s doing OK.”

Early Wednesday morning, November 1

Schefter!

Reid is asked what we can expect from Hali this week during his usual opening press conference:

“There’s nothing been done there,” Reid says, before being asked about whether he is practicing.

“Not this minute, no I can’t tell you that—no,” Reid answers. “I am not sure exactly what’s going on to be honest with you, but when I walked out here he was not practicing, no.”

Later in the press conference, Reid is asked about what the decision on Hali will come down to.

“Yeah, I’m not even dealing with [that]. Brett Veach is dealing with all that. I don’t know when I told Adam (Teicher) that, I don’t know exactly the situation and what’s going on right now, so that’s between Brett and Tamba and his representatives.”

Reid is then questioned about whether the situation is about how Hali feels coming back from his injury.

“We’ve been talking about it, Brett has for the last little bit, so when do you do that? Or whatever, and I guess they’re still talking about it. I don’t want to slight you guys because it’s a short week and I’m honestly, I’m focused on the Cowboys probably more than that right there. I don’t spend a lot of time in that area.”

Wednesday afternoon, November 1

More information:

Thursday afternoon, November 2

The Chiefs announce Hali has returned to practice on their official Twitter account:

Keep in mind, just because Hali is now practicing doesn’t necessarily mean he’ll play this season. The Chiefs now have 21 days to add him to the 53-man roster, meaning it’s all eyes on November 23.

Friday afternoon, November 3

This from NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport:

More on why this happened here.

Saturday, November 3

The Chiefs announce that Hali has been activated: