Justin Scott Parker Hunter^[1] (born May 20, 1991) is an American former professionalfootball player who was awide receiver in theNational Football League (NFL). He playedcollege football for theTennessee Volunteers. Hunter was selected by theTennessee Titans in the second round of the2013 NFL draft.

Justin Hunter

Hunter with the Tennessee Titans in 2014
No. 15, 17, 11
Position:	Wide receiver
Personal information
Born:	(1991-05-20)May 20, 1991 (age 33) Virginia Beach, Virginia, U.S.
Height:	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)
Weight:	203 lb (92 kg)
Career information
High school:	Ocean Lakes (Virginia Beach, Virginia)
College:	Tennessee (2010–2012)
NFL draft:	2013: 2nd round, 34th pick
Career history
Tennessee Titans (2013–2015) Miami Dolphins (2016) Buffalo Bills (2016) Pittsburgh Steelers (2017–2018)
Career highlights and awards
Second-team All-SEC (2012)
Career NFL statistics
Receptions: 85 Receiving yards: 1,349 Receiving touchdowns: 13 Stats atPro Football Reference

Hunter spent three seasons with the Titans before being released prior to the 2016 season. During the 2016 regular season, Hunter played in one game with theMiami Dolphins before spending most of the season with theBuffalo Bills. He then spent the next two seasons with thePittsburgh Steelers.

Hunter is a world-classlong jumper, and represented the United States at the 2010 IAAF World Junior Championships.^[2]

Hunter was born inVirginia Beach, Virginia.^[3] He attendedOcean Lakes High School in Virginia Beach where he playedfootball andbasketball and rantrack for the Ocean Lakes Dolphins.^[4] As a junior in 2008, he caught 34 passes for 545 yards and 13 touchdowns. As a senior in 2009, he caught 46 passes for 714 yards and nine touchdowns. He was ranked as the eighth best wide receiver recruit and 75th best overall prospect in his class byRivals.com.^[5][6]

As a track and field athlete, Hunter was an accomplished jumper. He was ranked byTrack & Field News as the third bestlong jumper, seventh besthigh jumper and fourteenth besttriple jumper. He won Virginia state titles in long jump and high jump and settled for second place in the triple jump. His best long jump, 25'10¾", qualified him for theIAAF World Junior Championships in Athletics.^[7]

Hunter enrolled in theUniversity of Tennessee, where he played for theTennessee Volunteers football team from 2010 to 2012 and competed for one season onTennessee's track and field team.^[8][9] As a true freshman in 2010, Hunter started two of 13 games and had 16 receptions for 415 yards and seventouchdowns, averaging a team-leading 25.9 yards per catch. His first touchdown reception was a 35-yard reception that came on a fourth-down play againstFlorida. Coming off the bench againstGeorgia, he caught four passes for 110 yards. In his second career start against theOle Miss Rebels, he caught three passes for 114 yards, including an 80-yard touchdown. He was named to the Coaches' All-SEC Freshman Team.^[10]

In track and field, Hunter set a Tennessee freshman record with a long jump measuring 26'1½". He was named a First-team All-American by theU.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association in the event and was also named to the SEC Indoor All-Freshman Team.^[7]

Hunter started the first three games of his sophomore season in 2011 before tearing hisACL on his first catch in the game against Florida, which caused him to miss the rest of the season.^[11] The injury also forced him to quit competing in track and field after one season.^[7] For his limited season, he had 17 receptions for 314 yards with two touchdowns. He caught 6 passes for 146 yards, including an 81-yard touchdown, againstMontana in the first game of the season. AgainstCincinnati, he caught 10 passes for 156 yards and a touchdown. At the time of his injury, he was leading the SEC in receptions per game and receiving yards per game.^[5]

Hunter started all 12 games in the 2012 season, and caught 73 passes for 1,083 yards and nine touchdowns.^[12] He was third in the SEC in both total receiving yards and receiving yards per game. His total of 73 catches was the second-highest in school history for a single season (Marcus Nash had 76 in 1997). In the season-opener againstN.C. State, he had nine catches for 73 yards. AgainstMissouri, he caught nine passes for 181 yards, his eighth career game with more than 100 yards receiving.^[13] After the 2012 season, he was named to the Coaches' All-SEC Second-team.^[5]

On January 9, 2013, Hunter, along with college teammatesCordarrelle Patterson,Tyler Bray, andDarrington Sentimore, announced his intention to leave college early and declare for the2013 NFL draft.^[14]

Coming out of Tennessee, Hunter was projected by the majority of NFL analysts and scouts to be a first or second round pick. He received an invitation to theNFL Combine and completed all the required drills except for the three-cone and bench press due to a shoulder and calf injury. On March 20, 2013, he participated at Tennessee's pro day and performed the broad jump, three-cone drill, and vertical for scouts and representatives.^[15] Representatives from all 32 NFL teams attended including thePittsburgh Steeler's head coachMike Tomlin and offensive coordinatorTodd Haley to scout Justin Hunter,Cordarrelle Patterson,Tyler Bray, and eight other prospects.^[16] He was ranked as the second best wide receiver prospect available in the draft by NFLDraftScout.com and the third best wide receiver by NFL analystMike Mayock.^[17]

TheTennessee Titans selected Hunter in the second round (34th overall) of the2013 NFL draft. He was the fourth wide receiver selected in the 2013 NFL draft.^[20]

On June 13, 2013, the Titans signed Hunter to a four-year, $5.42 million contract with $3.43 million guaranteed and a signing bonus of $2.32 million.^[21][22]

Hunter entered the regular season as theTennessee Titan's fourth wide receiver on their depth chart, behind veteransKenny Britt,Nate Washington, andKendall Wright.^[23]

On September 22, 2013, he recorded his first career NFL reception on a 34-yard touchdown pass fromJake Locker that was the game-winning score in a 20–17 win overSan Diego Chargers.^[24] He caught his second career pass for a 16-yard touchdown against the New York Jets the following week.^[25] On November 24, 2013, Hunter caught a season-high six passes for 109 receiving yards, and a 54-yard touchdown during a 23–19 victory over theOakland Raiders.^[26] During a Week 14 matchup against theDenver Broncos, Hunter caught four passes for 114-yards and a touchdown in a 28–51 loss.^[27] He finished his rookie season with a total of 18 receptions for 354 receiving yards and four touchdowns in 14 games as the Tennessee Titans finished with a 7–9 record.^[28][29]

Hunter entered training camp in2014 competing withMarc Mariani andDexter McCluster to be the Tennessee Titan's third wide receiver on their depth chart. Head coachKen Whisenhunt named him the third wide receiver to begin the regular season, behind Kendall Wright and Nate Washington.^[30]

On October 5, 2014, Hunter made his first career start and caught three passes for a season-high 99 receiving yards and scored his first touchdown of the year on a 75-yard pass fromCharlie Whitehurst. TheTennessee Titans went on to lose 29–28 to theCleveland Browns^[31] During a Week 8 matchup against theHouston Texans, he caught a season-high four passes for 31 receiving yards and scored on a 12-yard touchdown pass fromZach Mettenberger, as the Titans were defeated 16–30.^[32]

On November 30, 2014, Hunter suffered alaceratedspleen on the first play of a 45–22 loss to the Houston Texans. He was hit by Texan's safetyDanieal Manning and the pass was intercepted byJohnathan Joseph.^[33] The injury caused him to miss the remainder of the season.^[34]

He finished his second season with a total of 28 receptions, 498 receiving yards, and three touchdowns in eight starts and 12 games as the Tennessee Titans finished the season 2–14 in their first season under Ken Whisenhunt.^[35][36]

Throughout training camp in2015, Hunter faced stiff competition for the vacant starting wide receiver position left by Nate Washington. He lost the job to veteranHarry Douglas and was named the third wide receiver on the depth chart ahead ofHakeem Nicks,Jacoby Ford, and rookieDorial Green-Beckham.^[37]

On October 18, 2015, he caught three passes for a season-high 54 receiving yards during a 38–10 loss to theMiami Dolphins.^[38] During a Week 9 victory over theNew Orleans Saints, Hunter caught his only touchdown of the season on an eight-yard pass from rookieMarcus Mariota. He finished the 34–28 overtime victory with three receptions, 17 receiving yards, and a touchdown.^[39] The following week, he caught a season-high four passes for 47 receiving yards, but had to leave after suffering an apparent ankle injury during a 27–10 loss to theCarolina Panthers.^[40]

On Monday, November 16, 2015, Hunter was added to the season-ending injury reserve list after having surgery the day before to repair a fractured ankle suffered previous game against the Panthers.^[41][42]

After returning from a fractured ankle, Hunter entered training camp competing to be the Titans third option at wide receiver with Dorial Green-Beckham andAndre Johnson.^[43]

The Titans waived Hunter on September 2, 2016.^[44]

TheMiami Dolphins claimed Hunter off waivers on September 4, 2016.^[45] On September 11, 2016, he appeared in his only game with Miami, as they lost 12–10 to theSeattle Seahawks.

On September 15, 2016, he agreed to take a $387,389 pay cut in order to stay with the Dolphins.^[21] He was released by the team on September 28, 2016.^[46]

Hunter was claimed off waivers by theBuffalo Bills afterSammy Watkins was placed oninjured reserve on September 30, 2016.^[47]

Rex Ryan named him the team's fifth wide receiver on their depth chart behindRobert Woods,Marquise Goodwin,Greg Salas, andWalter Powell. Hunter made his Buffalo Bills debut on October 9, 2016, against theLos Angeles Rams and caught a four-yard touchdown pass fromTyrod Taylor.^[48] The following week, he made his second reception and scored a touchdown on a 30-yard reception from Tyrod Taylor as the Bills went on to defeat theSan Francisco 49ers 45–16.^[49] On November 27, 2016, Hunter caught a game-winning 16-yard touchdown pass from Bills quarterbackTyrod Taylor and helped the Bills defeat theJacksonville Jaguars 28–21.^[50]

He finished his only season with the Buffalo Bills with a total of ten receptions, 189 receiving yards, and four touchdown receptions in 12 games and five starts.^[51]

On March 15, 2017, thePittsburgh Steelers signed Hunter to a one-year, $855,000 contract that includes a signing bonus of $30,000.^[21][52]

Hunter enteredSteelers training camp competing for a backup wide receiver position againstSammie Coates,JuJu Smith-Schuster,Cobi Hamilton,Demarcus Ayers,Eli Rogers, andDarrius Heyward-Bey. He was named the sixth wide receiver to begin the regular season, behindAntonio Brown,Martavis Bryant, Heyward-Bey, Smith-Schuster, and Rogers.^[53]

Hunter was a healthy scratch for the first three regular season games.^[54] On October 1, 2017, in Week 4, Hunter made his official Steelers regular season debut and finished a 26–9 victory over theBaltimore Ravens with one reception for five yards.^[55] On December 25, 2017, Hunter caught his first touchdown as a member of the Steelers on a five-yard pass by quarterbackBen Roethlisberger in their 34–6 win against theHouston Texans.^[56]

On April 5, 2018, the Steelers signed Hunter to a one-year, $870,000 contract with a signing bonus of $30,000.^[57][21] He played in five games, recording three catches for 21 yards before suffering a shoulder injury in Week 13.^[58] He was placed on injured reserve on December 4, 2018.^[59]

On July 20, 2015, Hunter turned himself in to the Virginia Beach police department following a large bar fight which occurred on July 3 in Virginia Beach. He was arrested and held withoutbond.^[60] He was later found not guilty of misdemeanor assault and battery on September 15, 2015.^[61]On January 28, 2017, Hunter and his long term girlfriend, with whom he has three children, became engaged.

• Tennessee Volunteers bio
•   Media related toJustin Hunter at Wikimedia Commons