Orie Montgomery Hunter III (born January 21, 1959) is a former

American football American football, referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada and also known as gridiron football, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular American football field, field with goalposts at e ...

safety Safety is the state of being protected from harm or other danger. Safety can also refer to the control of recognized hazards in order to achieve an acceptable level of risk. Meanings The word 'safety' entered the English language in the 1 ...

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) for the

Dallas Cowboys The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football team based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The Cowboys compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. T ...

and

St. Louis Cardinals (NFL) From 1960 to 1987, the professional American football team now known as the Arizona Cardinals played in St. Louis, Missouri, as the St. Louis Cardinals. The team moved from Chicago to St. Louis in 1960, and played their first home game ther ...

. 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 ...

Salem College Salem College is a private women's liberal arts college in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Founded in 1772 as a primary school, it later became an academy (high school) and ultimately added the college. It is the oldest female educational esta ...

Early life

Hunter attended Dover High School, where he played as a

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 ...

and

After graduation, he chose to work at the Great Plains Bag Company instead of going to college. He walked on at NAIA

, where he was a three-year starter at

cornerback A cornerback (CB) is a member of the defensive backfield or secondary in gridiron football. Cornerbacks cover Wide receiver, receivers most of the time, but also blitz and defend against such Play from scrimmage, offensive running plays as sweep ...

. As a freshman, he recorded 5 interceptions, although he only played a total of 5 snaps. As a junior, he had 7 interceptions. He registered 76 tackles (second on the team), 5 interceptions and returned a kickoff for a 93 yards

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 ...

as a senior.

Professional career

Dallas Cowboys

Hunter was selected by the

in the fourth round (109th overall) of the

1982 NFL draft The 1982 NFL draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The draft was held April 27–28, 1982, at the New York Sh ...

. He made the team as a backup

, taking advantage of the retirements of

Charlie Waters Charlie Tutan Waters (born September 10, 1948) is an American former professional football player who spent his entire 12-year career as a safety for the Dallas Cowboys of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Cl ...

and

Randy Hughes James Randell Hughes (born April 3, 1953) is an American former professional football player who was a safety for the Dallas Cowboys of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Oklahoma Sooners and was selected in ...

. Because of his size, he was used as a

linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and typically line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and so back up the defensive linemen. They play closer to the line ...

on passing downs to cover

running backs 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. There a ...

and

tight ends The tight end (TE) is an offensive position in American football, arena football, and Canadian football. It is a hybrid that combines the characteristics and roles of both an offensive lineman and a receiver. As part of the receiver corps, th ...

. He is best remembered for the interception he returned for a

in the first round of the playoffs against the

Tampa Bay Buccaneers The Tampa Bay Buccaneers (colloquially known as the Bucs) are a professional American football team based in Tampa, Florida. The Buccaneers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC S ...

, that turned the game around for a 30–17 win. During the regular season, he also caused a fumble against the Buccaneers, that helped preserve a 14-9 win. On August 27,

1983 1983 saw both the official beginning of the Internet and the first mobile cellular telephone call. Events January * January 1 – The migration of the ARPANET to TCP/IP is officially completed (this is considered to be the beginning of the ...

, he was waived after being passed on the depth chart by

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 ...

Bill Bates William Frederick Bates (born June 6, 1961) is an American former professional football player who spent his entire 15-year career as a safety for the Dallas Cowboys of the National Football League (NFL). A fan favorite, he was a Pro Bowl sel ...

St. Louis Cardinals

On August 30,

, he was claimed off waivers 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 ...

. He played in five games before being cut on October 2, to make room for

Jeff Griffin.

Washington Redskins

On March 1,

1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeas ...

, he was signed as a

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 ...

by the

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 of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East ...

. He was released on July 31.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hunter, Monty 1959 births Living people Sportspeople from Dover, Ohio Players of American football from Ohio American football safeties Salem Tigers football players Dallas Cowboys players St. Louis Cardinals (football) players