Kendall Bernell Hunter (born September 16, 1988) is a former
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 ...
running back
A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive American football plays#Offensive terminology, handoffs from the quarterback to Rush (American football)#Offen ...
. He played
college football
College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States.
Unlike most ...
for
Oklahoma State University
Oklahoma (; Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a state in the South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the north, Missouri on the northeast, Arkansas on the east, New ...
, and earned consensus
All-American honors. The San Francisco 49ers selected him in the fourth round of the
2011 NFL Draft
The 2011 NFL Draft was the 76th installment of the annual NFL Draft, where the franchises of the National Football League select newly eligible football players. Like the 2010 draft, the 2011 draft was held at Radio City Music Hall in New York C ...
.
Early years
Hunter was born in
Tyler, Texas
Tyler is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the largest city and county seat of Smith County, Texas, Smith County. It is also the largest city in Northeast Texas. With a 2020 census population of 105,995, Tyler was the List of cities in Texa ...
. He attended
John Tyler High School
Tyler High School, formerly known as John Tyler High School, is a public, co-educational secondary school in Tyler, Texas. It is part of the Tyler Independent School District and serves 9th through 12th grade. In 2020, the Tyler I. S. D. school ...
in Tyler, where he played football and ran track. In football, he rushed for 1,200 yards and 14 touchdowns as a senior. Considered a three-star recruit by
Rivals.com
Rivals.com is a network of websites that focus mainly on college football and basketball recruiting in the United States. The network was started in 1998 and employs more than 300 personnel.
History
Rivals.com was founded in 1998 by Jim Heckma ...
, Hunter was listed as the No. 40 running back prospect in the nation. Hunter suffered a knee injury in high school that limited his potential suitors. Hunter was a first-team all-district selection following his junior season during which he rushed for 1,056 yards and twelve touchdowns.
He also competed in
track & field
Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping events ...
. He was timed at 11.3 seconds in the 100 meter dash as a senior. He was also a member of the
4 × 100 m relay
4 (four) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 3 and preceding 5. It is the smallest semiprime and composite number, and is considered unlucky in many East Asian cultures.
In mathematics
Four is the smallest c ...
(41.58 s).
College career
While attending
Oklahoma State University
Oklahoma (; Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a state in the South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the north, Missouri on the northeast, Arkansas on the east, New ...
, Hunter played for coach
Mike Gundy
Michael Ray Gundy (born August 12, 1967) is an American football coach and former player. He is the head football coach at Oklahoma State University. Gundy played college football at Oklahoma State, where he played quarterback from 1986 to 1989. ...
's
Oklahoma State Cowboys football
The Oklahoma State Cowboys football program represents Oklahoma State University–Stillwater in college football. The team is a member of the Big 12 Conference and competes at the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision level. The Cowboys are ...
team from 2007 to 2010. He was the nation's seventh leading rusher with 119.6 yards per game, including nine 100-yard rushing games, in 2008. He led the
Big 12 Conference
The Big 12 Conference is a college athletic conference headquartered in Irving, Texas, USA. It consists of ten full-member universities. It is a member of Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) for all sports. Its ...
in rushing by more than 30 yards per game. He was named a first-team
All-American after his sophomore season in 2008, and was recognized as a consensus first-team All-American as a senior in 2010. As a senior, he was also a finalist for the
Doak Walker
Ewell Doak Walker II (January 1, 1927 – September 27, 1998) was an American football player. He played college football as a halfback at Southern Methodist University (SMU), where he won the Heisman Trophy in 1948. Walker then played professi ...
award which was won by
LaMichael James
LaMichael Keondrae "LaMike" James (born October 22, 1989) is a former American football running back. He played college football for the University of Oregon and was drafted by the San Francisco 49ers in the second round of the 2012 NFL Draft.
...
, his teammate with San Francisco until James's release in 2014.
College statistics
Professional career
San Francisco 49ers
200px, Hunter runs the ball in 2012 against the Green Bay Packers.
Hunter was selected by the
San Francisco 49ers
The San Francisco 49ers (also written as the San Francisco Forty-Niners) are a professional American football team based in the San Francisco Bay Area. The 49ers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National ...
in the fourth round (115th overall) in the
2011 NFL Draft
The 2011 NFL Draft was the 76th installment of the annual NFL Draft, where the franchises of the National Football League select newly eligible football players. Like the 2010 draft, the 2011 draft was held at Radio City Music Hall in New York C ...
.
Hunter received his first start of his NFL career in week 4 of the 2011 season against the Philadelphia Eagles. He rushed for 473 yards (with an average yard per carry of 4.2) and scored 2 touchdowns during the regular season in a backup role to starting running back
Frank Gore
Franklin Gore Sr. (born May 14, 1983) is an American former American football, football running back who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 16 seasons. A member of the San Francisco 49ers during most of his career, he ranks third ...
. Late in the 2012 season Hunter was put on injured reserve with a torn
Achilles
In Greek mythology, Achilles ( ) or Achilleus ( grc-gre, Ἀχιλλεύς) was a hero of the Trojan War, the greatest of all the Greek warriors, and the central character of Homer's ''Iliad''. He was the son of the Nereid Thetis and Peleus, k ...
.
Over the summer of 2013, Hunter reportedly rehabilitated at
Cosumnes River College
Cosumnes River College is a public community college in Sacramento, California. It opened in 1970, taking its name from the Cosumnes River which flows just a few miles to the south. As of Spring 2017, enrollment was at 13,091 students at its main ...
with physical therapist Weinshilboum according to a June 18 article in the Sacramento Bee. Hunter spent time performing parcour across the Cosumnes campus, Bee writer Yolanda Marie wrote. Hunter was activated off the physically unable to perform list on August 10, 2013, nearly months after he partially tore his left Achilles.
On July 26, 2014, Hunter was carted off the field due to a knee injury. Later an MRI revealed that he tore his
ACL. The 49ers later waived him on August 5. After clearing waivers, he was placed on the 49ers'
injured reserve list
The injured reserve list ( IR list) is a designation used in North American professional sports leagues for athletes who suffer injuries and become unable to play. The exact name of the list varies by league; it is known as "injured reserve" in th ...
.
New Orleans Saints
On December 16, 2015, Hunter signed with the
New Orleans Saints
The New Orleans Saints are a professional American football team based in New Orleans. The Saints compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. Since 1975, the te ...
after starting running back
Mark Ingram II
Mark Valentino Ingram II (born December 21, 1989) is an American football running back for the New Orleans Saints of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Alabama, where he was the first Alabama player to win the Heis ...
was placed on
injured reserve
The injured reserve list ( IR list) is a designation used in North American professional sports leagues for athletes who suffer injuries and become unable to play. The exact name of the list varies by league; it is known as "injured reserve" in th ...
. On January 1, 2016, Hunter was placed on injured reserve.
Toronto Argonauts
On March 1, 2017, Hunter signed with the
Toronto Argonauts
The Toronto Argonauts (officially the Toronto Argonaut Football Club and colloquially known as the Argos) are a professional Canadian football team competing in the East Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL), based in Toronto, Ontario ...
of the
Canadian Football League
The Canadian Football League (CFL; french: Ligue canadienne de football—LCF) is a professional sports league in Canada. The CFL is the highest level of competition in Canadian football. The league consists of nine teams, each located in a ci ...
(CFL). On June 2, 2017, Hunter announced his retirement from professional football.
NFL career statistics
References
External links
Oklahoma State Cowboys bioSan Francisco 49ers bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hunter, Kendall
1988 births
Living people
All-American college football players
American football running backs
Canadian football running backs
American players of Canadian football
Oklahoma State Cowboys football players
Players of American football from Texas
Sportspeople from Tyler, Texas
San Francisco 49ers players
New Orleans Saints players
Toronto Argonauts players