Hunter Hillenmeyer

Hunter Hillenmeyer

Hillenmeyer (92) practices with the Bears at the 2008 summer training camp.
No. 92
Position:	Outside linebacker
Personal information
Date of birth:	(1980-10-28) October 28, 1980
Place of birth:	Nashville, Tennessee
Height:	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)
Weight:	238 lb (108 kg)
Career information
College:	Vanderbilt
NFL draft:	2003 / Round: 5 / Pick: 166
Career history
Green Bay Packers (2003)* Chicago Bears (2003–2010) *Offseason and/or practice squad member only
Career highlights and awards
First-team All-SEC selection (2002) First-team Academic All-America (2002)
Career NFL statistics
Tackles:	382
Sacks:	7.0
INTs:	2
Stats at NFL.com

Hunter Taverner Hillenmeyer (born October 28, 1980) is a former American football linebacker in the National Football League (NFL). He was drafted by the Green Bay Packers in the fifth round of the 2003 NFL Draft and played for the Chicago Bears from 2003 to 2010. Hillenmeyer attended high school at Montgomery Bell Academy and played college football at Vanderbilt University.

He is also a columnist for TheStreet.com.^[1]

Early years

Growing up in Nashville, Hillenmeyer attended Harding Academy before moving onto Montgomery Bell Academy (MBA). Hillenmeyer was a two-time All-state, All-region and All-district selection at Montgomery Bell Academy playing linebacker, defensive end, tight end and punter for the Big Red, including the school's 1998 state championship team. He lettered 3 years in football, 3 years in track and 2 years in tennis.

College career

Hillenmeyer was a four-year letterwinner at Vanderbilt (1999–2002) where he saw action in 45 games, starting the final 23 (every contest from 2000–02) and tallying 249 tackles (165 solos) and 6.5 sacks. As a senior, Hillenmeyer was 1 of 6 Division I-A football National Scholar-Athletes earned First-team All-SEC and First-team Academic All-America honors while leading nation in tackles per game (14.0).

Professional career

Pre-draft

(* represents NFL Combine)

Chicago Bears

Hillenmeyer signed with the Bears after being cut by the Packers at the end of the 2003 preseason. Hillenmeyer spent most of 2003 playing special teams for the Bears, he tied for 5th on Chicago with 12 special teams tackles as a rookie, playing 13 games on special teams. He became the starter at strong side linebacker in 2004 starting 11 games while appearing in all 16 and making 90 tackles and 2.5 sacks. In 2005 he had 71 tackles including 5 TFLs, 1 sack, 1 INT and 2 PBUs while starting 12 of the first 13 games at SLB before a thumb injury sidelined him for the final 3 regular season games. On June 30, 2006, the Bears signed Hillenmeyer to a five-year, $13 million contract extension through 2010 that included a $5 million signing bonus. That season he started 13 games at strongside linebacker, finishing with 68 tackles, 2 TFLs, 1 fumble recovery and a career-high 3 PBUs. In 2007 he played in all 16 games for the second time in his career, starting a career-high 14 contests and had a career-high 101 tackles, and registered 5 QB Hits, 3 TFLs, 2 PBUs, 1 forced fumble and 1 fumble recovery. In 2008 Hillenmeyer played 13 games, starting six. Along with All-Pro linebackers Brian Urlacher and Lance Briggs, the Bears were thought to have one of the best linebacking corps in the league.^[3][4] The Chicago Sun-Times has called Hillenmeyer "underrated".^[5] Hillenmeyer replaced Brian Urlacher at middle linebacker for the Bears after Urlacher's season-ending wrist injury in Week 1 of the 2009 season, making 90 tackles, 2.5 sacks, 1 interception and forcing four fumbles.^[6] On September 14, 2010, Hillenmeyer was placed on the Bears injured reserve list after sustaining a severe concussion in the team's season opener against the Detroit Lions.^[7] He was released by the Bears on February 28, 2011.

Personal life

Hillenmeyer is currently pursuing a Part-Time MBA program at the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois. In announcing the defensive starters for a 2006 Monday Night Football game against the St. Louis Rams, Bears teammate Alex Brown nicknamed the linebacker "Triple H" Hunter Hillenmeyer. An interview with Fox News Chicago revealed that Hillenmeyer is married to the daughter of Tim Floyd, former coach of the Iowa State, Chicago Bulls, and Southern California men's basketball teams. Hillenmeyer's father is a chef and restaurant owner in Tennessee. Hillenmeyer currently owns a company called OverDog, which allows fans to compete against pro athletes in video games over a mobile app.^[8]

References