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 wi ...

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 handoffs from the quarterback to rush the ball, to line up as a receiver to catch the ball, and block. Ther ...

. He played college football 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.

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 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 eve ...

. 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 (41.58 s).

College career

While attending

, 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. ...

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 professio ...

award which was won by LaMichael James, 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. 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 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 in NFL career rus ...

. 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 Pele ...

. Over the summer of 2013, Hunter reportedly rehabilitated at Cosumnes River College 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. 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