William Donald Hultz (born December 16, 1940) is an American former 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 ...

defensive end Defensive end (DE) is a defensive position in the sport of gridiron football. This position has designated the players at each end of the defensive line, but changes in formation (American football), formations over the years have substantially ...

in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

(NFL).

Biography

As a teenager, Don Hultz began playing football at Mobile County High School in

Grand Bay, Alabama Grand Bay is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Mobile County, Alabama, United States. It is part of the Mobile metropolitan area. The population was 3,460 at the 2020 census. History According to local account ...

. After graduating from high school, 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 ...

at the

University of Southern Mississippi The University of Southern Mississippi (Southern Miss or USM) is a Public university, public research university with its main campus in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. It is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools to award bac ...

Hattiesburg Hattiesburg is a city in the U.S. state of Mississippi, located primarily in Forrest County (where it is the county seat and most populous city) and extending west into Lamar County. The city population was 48,730 in 2020, making it the 5th m ...

, Mississippi, where he played both offensive and defensive positions. In 1962, during Hultz's senior year, Southern Mississippi's football team won the

UPI United Press International (UPI) is an American international news agency whose newswires, photo, news film, and audio services provided news material to thousands of newspapers, magazines, radio and television stations for most of the 20th ce ...

Small College National Championship. Following college, Hultz signed as a free agent to play in the NFL with the

Minnesota Vikings The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis. The Vikings compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. Founded in 1960 as ...

. He played his first season with the Vikings in 1963. Before the 1964 season he was traded as part of a 4-for-1 deal to the

Philadelphia Eagles The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia. The Eagles compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. The team plays its ...

where he played the following 9 seasons. During those first ten years (both at Minnesota and Philadelphia) he wore the number 83. After the 1973 season he was traded to the

Chicago Bears The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago. The Bears compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. They are one of two remaining ...

where he played his final season in 1974. During that final year he wore the number 67. While in the NFL, Hultz played defensive end, defensive tackle, and linebacker. Hultz holds the NFL record for the most opponents' fumbles recovered in a season, nine, in 1963, his rookie season.. His brother,

George Hultz George A. Hultz (born March 7, 1939) is an American former professional football player who was a defensive tackle in the National Football League (NFL). Early life and college George A. Hultz was born on March 7, 1939, in Moss Point, Mississip ...

, also played high school football at

and later at the

. He was drafted in the

1961 NFL draft The 1961 NFL draft took place at the Warwick Hotel in Philadelphia on December 27–28, 1960. The league would later hold an expansion draft for the Minnesota Vikings expansion franchise. This draft was also the first regular draft for the Dall ...

by the

St. Louis Cardinals The St. Louis Cardinals are an American professional baseball team based in St. Louis. The Cardinals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Centra ...

and played one season in the NFL as an offensive tackle. Later, George worked as a

professional wrestler Professional wrestling, often shortened to either pro wrestling or wrestling,The term "wrestling" is most often widely used to specifically refer to modern scripted professional wrestling, though it is also used to refer to real-life wrest ...

for promoter

Nick Gulas Nick Gulas (September 3, 1914 – January 21, 1991) was an American professional wrestling promoter in the Southern United States, partnered with Tennessee promoter Roy Welch for decades. Gulas was also known as "The King of Managers", "King B", ...

. His son played college football and his grandson, Sam, plays in his town league.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hultz, Don 1940 births Living people Sportspeople from Moss Point, Mississippi Players of American football from Jackson County, Mississippi American football defensive linemen Southern Miss Golden Eagles football players Minnesota Vikings players Philadelphia Eagles players Chicago Bears players