James Edward Hunter (March 8, 1954 – August 2, 2010) was an
American football
American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...
defensive back
In gridiron football, defensive backs (DBs), also called the secondary, are the players on the defensive side of the ball who play farthest back from the line of scrimmage. They are distinguished from the other two sets of defensive players, the ...
who played for the
Detroit Lions
The Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit. The Lions compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) North Division. The team play their home games at Ford ...
in the
National Football League
The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...
(NFL). Hunter was the 10th player picked in the
1976 NFL Draft
The 1976 National Football League draft was an annual player selection meeting held April 8–9, 1976, at the Roosevelt Hotel in New York City, New York.
The draft lasted 17 rounds, with the expansion Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Seattle Seahawks m ...
after playing for the late great
Eddie Robinson at
Grambling State University
Grambling State University (GSU, Grambling, or Grambling State) is a public historically black university in Grambling, Louisiana. Grambling State is home of the Eddie G. Robinson Museum and is listed on the Louisiana African American Heritage ...
. Hunter is 7th all-time for interceptions in Lions history and is still considered one of the greatest players to ever play at
Grambling
Grambling State University (GSU, Grambling, or Grambling State) is a public historically black university in Grambling, Louisiana. Grambling State is home of the Eddie G. Robinson Museum and is listed on the Louisiana African American Heritage ...
. His son,
Javin Hunter
Javin Edward Hunter (born May 9, 1980) is a former American football wide receiver. He played college football at the University of Notre Dame, and was drafted by the Baltimore Ravens in the sixth round of the 2002 NFL Draft. He also played a se ...
, played for
Notre Dame and was drafted by the
Baltimore Ravens
The Baltimore Ravens are a professional American football team based in Baltimore, Maryland. The Ravens compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) North division. The team plays its ...
in 2002. His grandson,
Jaden Ivey
Jaden Edward Dhananjay Ivey (born February 13, 2002) is an American professional basketball player for the Detroit Pistons of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for the Purdue Boilermakers.
Early life and high ...
played basketball at
Purdue University
Purdue University is a public land-grant research university in West Lafayette, Indiana, and the flagship campus of the Purdue University system. The university was founded in 1869 after Lafayette businessman John Purdue donated land and money ...
and was drafted by the
Detroit Pistons
The Detroit Pistons are an American professional basketball team based in Detroit. The Pistons compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Central Division and play their home games at Li ...
in the
2022 NBA draft
The 2022 NBA draft (branded as the 2022 NBA Draft presented by State Farm for sponsorship reasons), the 76th edition of the National Basketball Association's annual draft, was held on June 23, 2022, at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. The ...
. Hunter also has a daughter, Marisa Hunter.
Nicknamed "Hound Dog" for his long-striding running ability, he made an instant impact in the NFL. The 6-foot-3, 195-pound cornerback led the Lions with seven pass interceptions and was runner-up to future Pro Football Hall of Famer Mike Haynes as NFL Rookie Defensive Player of the Year. He got his first start in 1976 at free safety, subbing for another Lions’ great, Dick Jauron who had broken his leg. He shifted to left cornerback in 1977 playing alongside another future Pro Football Hall of Famer,
Lem Barney
Lemuel Joseph Barney (September 8, 1945) is a former American football player. A native of Gulfport, Mississippi, he played college football at Jackson State from 1964 to 1966. He was drafted by the Detroit Lions of the National Football Leagu ...
. In his seven seasons with the Lions (1976–82), Hunter led the Lions in three seasons in pass interceptions (1976, ’77 and ’80) and had 27 career interceptions. He played in 86 Lions games before a neck injury sustained late in the 1982 season ended his career.
Hunter,
Jimmy "Spiderman" Allen, and
David Hill recorded a remake of
Queen
Queen or QUEEN may refer to:
Monarchy
* Queen regnant, a female monarch of a Kingdom
** List of queens regnant
* Queen consort, the wife of a reigning king
* Queen dowager, the widow of a king
* Queen mother, a queen dowager who is the mother ...
's hit "
Another One Bites the Dust
"Another One Bites the Dust" is a song by the British rock band Queen. Written by bassist John Deacon, the song was featured on the group's eighth studio album '' The Game'' (1980). It was a worldwide hit, charting number one on the US ''Billb ...
" in 1980.
On November 14, 2019, it was announced that Hunter would be part of the 2020 Black College Football Hall of Fame induction class.
Awards
*Inducted into African-American Sports Hall of Fame (1996)
*Inducted into Southwestern Athletic Conference Hall of Fame (SWAC) (1997)
*Slated to be inducted into the Black College Football Hall of Fame in 2020
References
External links
NFL.com player page
1954 births
2010 deaths
People from Silsbee, Texas
American football cornerbacks
American football safeties
Grambling State Tigers football players
Detroit Lions players
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