Caleb Jarod Huntley (born September 15, 1998) is an American professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

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)#Offense ...

. He played

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

for the

Ball State Cardinals The Ball State Cardinals are the athletic teams that represent Ball State University, located in Muncie, Indiana. The Cardinals are part of the NCAA Division I Mid-American Conference. Charlie Cardinal is the team mascot. The Ball State Univer ...

and was signed by the Falcons as an

undrafted free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player or manager who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under a contract at present ...

in .

Early life and college

Huntley was born on September 15, 1998, and grew up in

Atlanta, Georgia Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

. He attended Locust Grove High School and was a four-year letterman. He played four seasons as a varsity football player at

and finished his career with 3,135 yards and 30

touchdown A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Scoring a touchdown grants the team that scored it 6 points. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchd ...

s. As a

senior Senior (shortened as Sr.) means "the elder" in Latin and is often used as a suffix for the elder of two or more people in the same family with the same given name, usually a parent or grandparent. It may also refer to: * Senior (name), a surname ...

in 2016, he ran for 1,487 yards and scored 13 touchdowns, earning Region 4/5A Offensive Player of the Year honors. He recorded more than 100 rushing yards in every game of the 2016 season, and holds the single season rushing record and rushing yards per game record at Locust Grove. He was a three-star recruit according to

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. Huntley had committed to

Western Kentucky Western Kentucky is the western portion of the U.S. state of Kentucky. It generally includes part or all of several more widely recognized regions of the state. ;Always included * The Jackson Purchase, the state's westernmost generally recogniz ...

, but they decided not to have him on the team as a result of poor grades in high school. He instead signed with

Ball State Ball State University (Ball State or BSU) is a public university, public research university in Muncie, Indiana, United States. The university has three off-campus centers in Indianapolis, Fort Wayne, Indiana, Fort Wayne, and Fishers, Indiana. T ...

. As a

freshman A freshman, fresher, first year, or colloquially frosh, is a person in the first year at an educational institution, usually a secondary school or at the college and university level, but also in other forms of post-secondary educational in ...

in 2017, he appeared in all 12 games and started the concluding seven, recording 1,003 rushing yards on 210 attempts, both leading the team. He is one of only two freshmen in school history to run for over 1,000 yards. He was given the John Hodge Award at the end of the year, given to the best Ball State freshman. As a

sophomore In the United States, a sophomore ( or ) is a person in the second year at an educational institution; usually at a secondary school or at the college and university level, but also in other forms of Post-secondary school, post-secondary educatio ...

in 2018, Huntley appeared in the first six games before suffering a season-ending injury against

Northern Illinois Northern Illinois is a region generally covering the northern third of the U.S. state of Illinois. The region is by far the most populous of Illinois, with nearly 9.7 million residents as of 2010. Economics Northern Illinois is dominated by ...

. In 2019, Huntley started 11 out of 12 games at running back and recorded 1,275 rushing yards, placing third in the

Mid-American Conference The Mid-American Conference (MAC) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference with a membership base in the Great Lakes region (North America), Great Lakes region that stretches from Western New York to Illinois. Its members co ...

(MAC) with 106.2 rushing yards per game. Gaining over 100 yards in all but one of the inter-conference matches, Huntley was named second-team All-MAC at the end of the year as well as Ball State Offensive Player of the Year. As a senior in 2020, Huntley recorded 437 rushing yards on 80 carries, scoring six touchdowns. He appeared in only three games due to injury, but, despite this, played well enough to earn a spot on the all-conference team. Although being given an extra year of eligibility due to the

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, he decided to declare for the

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. Huntley finished his college career with 2,902 rushing yards, seventh all-time in school history, and 21 rushing touchdowns, which ranks tenth in the team record books.

Professional career

After going unselected in the

2021 NFL draft The 2021 NFL draft was the 86th National Football League draft, the annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible players for the 2021 NFL season. The draft was held in Cleveland, Ohio from April 29 to May ...

, Huntley was signed by the

Atlanta Falcons The Atlanta Falcons are a professional American football team based in Atlanta. The Falcons compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South division. The Falcons were founded o ...

as an

. He was waived at the final roster cuts, on August 31, and re-signed to the

practice squad In gridiron football, the practice squad, also called the taxi squad or practice roster, is a group of players signed by a team but not part of their main roster. They serve as extra players during the team's practices, often as part of the scou ...

the next day. He spent the entire season there, and was signed to a future contract on January 10, 2022. He was waived again on August 30, 2022, but was subsequently brought back to the practice squad. He was elevated to the active roster for their week two game against the

Los Angeles Rams The Los Angeles Rams are a professional American football team based in the Greater Los Angeles, Greater Los Angeles area. The Rams compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC West, West ...

, and made his debut in the match, recording one rush attempt for three yards. He was elevated again for week four, and recorded 10 carries for 56 yards and his first career touchdown in a 23–20 win over the

Cleveland Browns The Cleveland Browns are a professional American football team based in Cleveland. The Browns compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The team is named after ...

. He was signed to the active roster on October 3. He suffered a torn

Achilles tendon The Achilles tendon or heel cord, also known as the calcaneal tendon, is a tendon at the back of the lower leg, and is the thickest in the human body. It serves to attach the plantaris, gastrocnemius (calf) and soleus muscles to the calcane ...

in Week 15 and 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 ...

on December 20. Huntley ended the 2022 season with 76 carries for 366 rushing yards and one touchdown. Huntley was waived by the Falcons on July 25, 2023.

References

External links

Ball State Cardinals bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Huntley, Caleb 1998 births Living people American football running backs Players of American football from Atlanta Ball State Cardinals football players Atlanta Falcons players