Margus Hunt

Margus Hunt (born July 14, 1987) is an Estonian professional American football defensive tackle who is currently a free agent. He was drafted by the Cincinnati Bengals in the second round of the 2013 NFL Draft. He played college football at SMU. He also played for the Indianapolis Colts.

Before taking up American football, Hunt competed in the discus throw and shot put, and was the former world junior record holder in discus throw. At 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m), he is one of the tallest players in the NFL.

Early years (track and field)

Hunt grew up in the small town Karksi-Nuia and took up athletics because "there wasn’t much to do". After trying decathlon he decided to concentrate on the throwing events – discus, shot and hammer throw. Hunt started training with Aleksander Tammert, an Olympic bronze medalist in discus throw from the 2004 Summer Olympics. Hunt competed in hammer throw at the 2003 World Youth Championships and discus at the 2004 World Junior Championships, placing eighth and sixth respectively.

In 2005, he won his first title at the European Junior Championships in Kaunas, throwing 62.19 metres (Championship record) with the 1.75 kg discus.

In 2006, at the World Junior Championships in Beijing Hunt established a new world junior record of 66.35 metres in his first throw on the qualifying round. At the final competition Hunt improved his own world junior record to 66.68 m in the fourth round and then 67.32 m in the sixth and final round.

Three days later he won the gold medal in the shot put by 20.53 metres in the final, beating the closest competitor by 39 centimetres. Hunt became the first athlete to win the gold medal both in shot and discus at the World Junior Championships, outperforming Rutger Smith of the Netherlands who won a gold and a bronze in 2000. His winning distance of 20.53 m was a national junior record with the 6 kg shot.

His personal best hammer throw result is 64.89 made on March 28, 2008 in Arlington, Texas. His personal best shot put result is 17.98 made on March 22, 2008 in Waco.

His personal best with the senior 2 kg discus is 61.33 meters made on July 6, 2010 in Viljandi.

College career

Hunt left Estonia for Dallas, Texas in 2007 in order to train with Southern Methodist University track and field coach Dave Wollman, and he began attending SMU part-time. However, by the time he arrived at SMU, the university had dropped its men's track program. Hunt wanted to keep working with Wollman, who had previously worked with Estonian discus thrower, 2004 Olympic bronze Aleksander Tammert, and Wollman decided that Hunt's size and athleticism could earn him an athletic scholarship playing for the SMU Mustangs football team. When Hunt tried out for football, his physical power, combined with a 4.7-second 40-yard dash, led Mustangs head football coach June Jones to offer him a scholarship, and he began attending SMU full-time in 2009. He then played for the Mustangs for the next four seasons. On October 12, 2009, Hunt was named the Conference USA Special Teams Player of the Week. On November 7 Hunt broke the school record for blocked kicks in a season when he blocked an extra-point try and a field goal against Rice. In his first 14 games at SMU he blocked eight kicks, putting him in the top 10 in blocked kicks among all NCAA players. He was named the MVP of the 2012 Hawaii Bowl.

For nearly 10 years, Bruce Feldman, a writer for CBSSports.com, has annually compiled what he calls a "Freak List" of the 10 college football players he considers the most freakish athletes. In 2012, Hunt was on top of his list. According to Feldman, Hunt "sounds like a PlayStation football creation"—despite his 82-inch (2.1 m) wingspan, he is able to bench press 225 pounds (102 kg) 35 times, and has also cleaned 384 pounds (174 kg) and snatched 345 pounds (156 kg). Hunt also boasts a 36-inch (91 cm) vertical jump. Wollman predicted that Hunt would have 45 repetitions and a 4.6-second 40-yard dash at the 2013 NFL combine. Hunt did, in fact, run a 4.60-second 40-yard dash and did 38 bench press repetitions while posting a vertical leap of 34.5-inch (88 cm) at the 2013 combine.

Professional career

Cincinnati Bengals

On April 26, 2013, the Cincinnati Bengals selected Hunt in the second round, 53rd pick overall, of the 2013 NFL Draft. Bengals defensive coordinator Mike Zimmer compared him to Bengals defensive end/linebacker Michael Johnson at a post-draft news conference, explaining that both players were very raw coming out of college but had the potential to be great.

On October 6, 2013, Hunt made his debut in NFL, when the Bengals beat the New England Patriots 13-6. He played in 10 games and was inactive the other six. He totaled four tackles, a shared sack and seven quarterback pressures as the Bengals won the AFC North.

Hunt totaled seven tackles and one sack in 12 games in 2014 as the Bengals went 10-5-1 and again made the playoffs.

Hunt was anticipated to have a breakout season in 2015. He did not, and only totaled 2 tackles and no sacks in 7 games for the Bengals.

Indianapolis Colts

On March 13, 2017, Hunt signed a two-year contract with the Indianapolis Colts. In his first season with the Colts, Hunt totaled 29 tackles and a sack.

In Week 1 of the 2018 season, Hunt had two sacks against his former team the Bengals, nearly totalling the 2.5 career sacks he had coming into the game. In Week 3 against the Philadelphia Eagles, Hunt recorded four tackles, including a sack, and recovered his own forced fumble. Through three weeks, Hunt was leading the league in tackles for a loss with eight. He started 15 games in 2018, recording 30 combined tackles and five sacks.

On March 5, 2019, Hunt signed a two-year, $9 million contract extension with the Colts.

The Colts released Hunt on March 16, 2020.

Career statistics

Source: NFL.com

Achievements (track and field)