Pete Hunter

Ralph Everette (Pete) Hunter (born May 25, 1980, in Atlantic City, New Jersey) is a professional American football defensive back free agent.

Early life
Pete graduated from Atlantic City High School, in Atlantic City, New Jersey, with honors.

College years
Hunter played Division II NCAA college football at Virginia Union. In his college football career he had 10 blocked kicks, and led the CIAA conference in his senior year with 11 interceptions. He averaged 1 interception per game.

During his college career, he was very versatile playing a number of defensive positions, including free safety, strong safety and cornerback.

Hunter graduated from Virginia Union with a degree in Criminal Justice. He also worked as a volunteer substitute teacher with grades ranging from K-8.

Pro football career
Pete became a National Football League player after being drafted in the fifth round of the 2002 NFL Draft by the Dallas Cowboys.

Hunter played a most of his short career as a cornerback for the Dallas Cowboys which is the only team he has had any defensive playing time for during the regular season. He racked up 43 tackles and three interceptions in 30 games. Hunter suffered a debilitating injury in 2004 that would limit him to just three games that season. On September 27, 2004, during the Dallas Cowboys' Monday Night Football victory over the Washington Redskins, Hunter tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee as he ran down the field, placing him on the injured reserve list for the remainder of the season. On July 14, 2005, the Dallas Cowboys traded Hunter to the New York Jets for a seventh round draft pick after he stated to the Dallas media that he did not want to be moved to Safety and he only wanted to play the Cornerback position. Missing some time early in training camp due to knee swelling, Hunter was waived by the Jets on August 10, 2005 after being on the team for less than three weeks.

The Cleveland Browns signed Hunter as a free agent on December 6, 2005, filling the roster spot opened by the injured Braylon Edwards. He saw action as a special teams player in 4 2005 regular season games but accumulated no statistics. Hunter's contract with the Browns was terminated prior to the start of the 2006 regular season, on September 2, 2006.

Outside football
After being cut by the Browns, Hunter moved back to Dallas. There he began his career as a loan officer with Petra Lending Group, a large residential mortgage firm. Hunter also begun training to be a United States border agent.

Seattle Seahawks comeback
On January 2, 2007, Hunter was signed as a Free Agent to the Seattle Seahawks on the recommendation of coach Mike Holmgren to provide depth after they lost three of their four active cornerbacks to injury prior to the playoffs.

On January 6, 2007 he played his first game in Seattle, a Wild Card Playoff game against his former team, the Dallas Cowboys. Against the Cowboys in that game, Hunter had three tackles, defended one pass, and recovered a fumble when Cowboys tight end Jason Witten lost the ball. He was also the player who knocked down the Cowboys last second Hail Mary pass to seal the Seahawks' victory.

In a postgame interview on the Seattle Seahawks team site, Hunter was quoted as saying:

“I don’t know when I’m going to wake up – I’m not going to go to sleep tonight,”

On January 14, 2007, he played against the Bears in Chicago in a Divisional Playoff game. When Rex Grossman under threw a receiver, Hunter intercepted a pass at a pivotal point in the 4th quarter, preventing the Bears from scoring a touchdown. Unfortunately, Seattle threw an interception on the very next play. The Bears won the game with a field goal in overtime.

AAFL and Arena Football
On January 26, 2008 Hunter was selected in the fourth round of the inaugural 2008 AAFL Draft by Team Florida. However, the AAFL announced that it was postponing its inaugural season until 2009 soon thereafter, and on March 20, 2008 Hunter signed with the Dallas Desperados, marking his first venture into arena football.

Canadian Football League
On August 25, 2008, Hunter was signed to the Toronto Argonauts practice roster. He was cut at the end of the 2009 Toronto Argonauts training camp.