Montori Hughes (born August 25, 1990) 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 ...

nose tackle A defensive tackle (DT) is a position in American football that will typically line up on the line of scrimmage, opposite one of the offensive guards, however he may also line up opposite one of the tackles. Defensive tackles are typically the la ...

. 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 ...

University of Tennessee at Martin The University of Tennessee at Martin (UT Martin or UTM) is a public university in Martin, Tennessee. It is one of the five campuses of the University of Tennessee system. UTM is the only public university in West Tennessee outside of Memphis ...

, and was selected in the fifth round of the

2013 NFL Draft The 2013 NFL Draft was the 78th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible football players. The draft, which is officially called the "NFL Player Selection Meeting", was held at Radio City Music Hall in ...

by the

Indianapolis Colts The Indianapolis Colts are a professional American football team based in Indianapolis. The Colts compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) South division. Since the 2008 ...

. He has also been a member of the

New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. ...

Kansas City Chiefs The Kansas City Chiefs are a professional American football team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Chiefs compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The tea ...

Washington Redskins The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) N ...

Memphis Express The Memphis Express was a professional American football franchise based in Memphis, Tennessee. It was a member of the Alliance of American Football (AAF) during its single season in 2019. They played their home games at Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadi ...

, and

Los Angeles Wildcats Los Angeles Wildcats is a name shared by several American football teams from Los Angeles: *Los Angeles Wildcats (AFL) The Los Angeles Wildcats (also reported in various media as Pacific Coast Wildcats, Los Angeles Wilson Wildcats and Wilson's ...

Early years

Hughes was born in

Murfreesboro, Tennessee Murfreesboro is a city in and county seat of Rutherford County, Tennessee, United States. The population was 152,769 according to the 2020 census, up from 108,755 residents certified in 2010. Murfreesboro is located in the Nashville metropol ...

. He attended

Siegel High School Siegel High School is a public high school in the Rutherford County School System in Tennessee. The Principal, Mr. Larry Creasy, has been the head of the administrative staff since 2014. Siegel High School opened in the fall of 2003. The Sieg ...

in Murfreesboro, where he was a three-year starter and led the Siegel Stars high school football team in tackles with 106, tackles-for-loss with 25 and sacks with 13 as a senior in 2007. He was named the Region 4-5A Defensive MVP, all-region, all-area and all-county and participated in the Toyota East-West All-Star Classic in 2007. Also starring in basketball, Hughes averaged double figures in scoring and rebounding for Siegel High School. Rated only a two-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 ...

, Hughes was not ranked among the best defensive tackle prospects in the nation.

Scout.com Scout Media is an integrated sports publishing company that produces Internet content covering hundreds of professional and college teams across America. The company was founded in 2001 and was acquired by Fox Sports in 2005. In 2013, Fox Sports ...

, which listed Hughes as a three-star recruit, ranked him as No. 49 overall defensive tackle in the 2008 class. Jamie Newberg of Scout.com later admitted that recruiting services overlooked Hughes: "Right now, to me, he may be the best prospect in the state when it's all said and done. And we just flat missed him." Hughes had scholarship offers from

Jacksonville State Jacksonville State University (JSU) is a public university in Jacksonville, Alabama. Founded in 1883, Jacksonville State offers programs of study in six academic schools leading to bachelor's, master's, education specialist, and doctorate degrees ...

and

Tennessee State Tennessee State University (Tennessee State, Tenn State, or TSU) is a public historically black land-grant university in Nashville, Tennessee, United States. Founded in 1912, it is the only state-funded historically black university in Tennes ...

, but committed to Tennessee after head coach

Phillip Fulmer Phillip Edward Fulmer Sr. (born September 1, 1950) is a former American football player, coach, and athletic director at the University of Tennessee. He served as head coach of the Tennessee Volunteers football team from 1992 to 2008, compiling ...

offered him a scholarship. Fulmer compared Hughes to former Vols defensive tackle

Justin Harrell Justin Tyrell Harrell (born February 14, 1984) is a former American football player. He was drafted by the Green Bay Packers 16th overall in the 2007 NFL Draft and was part of their Super Bowl XLV championship against the Pittsburgh Steelers ...

, who transformed from a little-known recruit to a first-round pick in the 2007 NFL Draft.

College career

Hughes originally signed with the

University of Tennessee The University of Tennessee (officially The University of Tennessee, Knoxville; or UT Knoxville; UTK; or UT) is a public land-grant research university in Knoxville, Tennessee. Founded in 1794, two years before Tennessee became the 16th state, ...

in January 2008, but failed to qualify academically. He spent several months at

Fork Union Military Academy Fork Union Military Academy (abbreviated as FUMA) is a private, all-male, college preparatory military boarding school located in Fork Union, Virginia. Founded in 1898, Fork Union is considered one of the premier military boarding academies in th ...

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

, before enrolling at Tennessee in January 2009. Hughes had bulked up from 275 to 310 pounds in little over a year, and emerged as one of the

Tennessee Volunteers football The Tennessee Volunteers football program (variously called "Tennessee", "Vols", "UT", or "Big Orange") represents the University of Tennessee (UT). The Vols have played football for 130 seasons, starting in 1891; their combined record of 862� ...

team's most talented defensive freshman. He was expected to play in Tennessee's 2011 season opener; however, Hughes was dismissed from the team on June 9, 2011, by head coach Derek Dooley. Hughes subsequently transferred to the

, and played for the

UT Martin Skyhawks football The UT Martin Skyhawks football program is the intercollegiate American football team for the University of Tennessee at Martin in Martin, Tennessee. The team competes in the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) and are members ...

team in 2011 and 2012.

Professional career

Indianapolis Colts

Hughes was selected by the

in the fifth round of the

. On September 5, 2015, Hughes was waived by the Colts.

New York Giants

On September 7, 2015, Hughes was signed to the

' practice squad. On November 10, 2015, he was elevated to the active roster. On September 4, 2016, Hughes was released by the Giants. On September 13, 2016, Hughes was re-signed by the Giants. He was released on October 11, 2016.

Kansas City Chiefs

On January 31, 2017, Hughes signed a reserve/future contract with the Chiefs. He was released on August 4, 2017.

Washington Redskins

On January 3, 2018, Hughes signed a reserve/future contract with the

. He was released on April 30, 2018.

Memphis Express

In 2019, Hughes joined the

of the

Alliance of American Football The Alliance of American Football (AAF) was a professional American football minor league. The AAF consisted of eight centrally owned and operated teams in the southern and western United States, seven of which were located in metropolitan are ...

. The league ceased operations in April 2019.

Los Angeles Wildcats

Hughes was drafted by the

during the

2020 XFL Supplemental Draft The 2020 XFL Draft was the inaugural player selection process to fill the rosters of the eight teams of the 2020 reboot of the XFL. The draft was held on October 15–16, 2019, via conference call, with results released through the XFL's social m ...

held on November 22, 2019. He signed with the team during mini-camp in December 2019. He was waived on February 15, 2020.

References

External links

Tennessee-Martin Skyhawks bioIndianapolis Colts bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hughes, Montori 1990 births Living people Sportspeople from Murfreesboro, Tennessee Players of American football from Tennessee American football defensive tackles Tennessee Volunteers football players UT Martin Skyhawks football players Indianapolis Colts players New York Giants players Kansas City Chiefs players Washington Redskins players Los Angeles Wildcats (XFL) players Memphis Express (American football) players