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Miami Dolphins' Tyreek Hill puts money aside: ‘We're focused on winning games'

MIAMI GARDENS — Tyreek Hill celebrated his reworked contract, all right. Makes sense, you want to say. All those millions guaranteed, how could he not party?

Because it’s not his way. Not now. The family dinner Saturday was the exception, not the rule, he said. Maybe it’s a couple of years of seeing his old team, the Kansas City Chiefs, winning Super Bowls while the Miami Dolphins can’t win a wild-card game, but Hill says his focus has changed.

“We all know the money is going to come,” he said. “The money going to come whenever. What we’re focused on right now is winning games.”

More: Miami Dolphins' Tyreek Hill definitely doesn't want to hear Tua Tagovailoa can't throw deep

Aug 6, 2024; Miami Gardens, FL, USA; Miami Dolphins wide receiver Tyreek Hill (10) catches the football against Atlanta Falcons cornerback Anthony Johnson (43) during a joint practice at Baptist Health Training Complex. Mandatory Credit: Sam Navarro-USA TODAY Sports
Aug 6, 2024; Miami Gardens, FL, USA; Miami Dolphins wide receiver Tyreek Hill (10) catches the football against Atlanta Falcons cornerback Anthony Johnson (43) during a joint practice at Baptist Health Training Complex. Mandatory Credit: Sam Navarro-USA TODAY Sports

It became easier to say that, naturally, after the Dolphins defined “whenever” as the next three years, during which time $90 million will be headed Hill’s way.

There’s more. The contract came just as the NFL was announcing the results of its annual poll of players on the top 100 players. No. 1: Tyreek Hill.

For a guy who makes his living running faster than just about anyone not named Noah Lyles, that’s a pretty respectable run Hill is on.

“I told coach (Mike) McDaniel, ‘Man, without you, I’ll still be getting ranked number 15 in Kansas City,’ ” Hill said.

So Hill has his money. He has his fame. What’s next, he was asked. The question  accomplished something few defenses ever did. It stopped him cold.

“I really haven’t thought about that,” he said. “But as a team goal — and I want this for the whole team — is just to win a playoff game. That’s Step 1 for all of us. And that’s something that we all can build on moving forward, going deeper into the playoffs. And that’s something that we can live with forever because it hasn’t been done in what, 23-24 years?”

We won’t know how that plays out until the calendar reads 2025. Postseason success would be a huge step, the kind of which Hill says calls for celebration, unlike the baby steps that no longer move the needle in his home.

“I say this to my family: I’m saying like, ‘Y’all are so used to me winning and getting stuff, y’all don’t even celebrate with me no more. It’s just like we wake up, oh, you’re number one, congrats, and we just move on. Oh, you got an extension, and we move on.’

“But my grandparents flew in with me and my wife. Obviously, we went and celebrated. … That’s why I play, man. You feel me? To reach moments like this.”

So Hill got paid. Tagovailoa got paid. Fellow receiver Jaylen Waddle got paid.

Now it’s time for them to repay the Dolphins.

“At the end of the day, to all of us, the money don’t matter,” Hill said. “We already have responsibility on our shoulders. We’ve been feeling like this. We’ve got too competitive of a team and too great of guys on this team to not win games.”

Dolphins reporter Hal Habib can be reached at  hhabib@pbpost.com. Follow him on social media @gunnerhal. Click here to subscribe.

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Miami Dolphins' Tyreek Hill has money, fame, but one thing is missing