Kareem Hunt is an American football player who currently plays for the Cleveland Browns football team in the NFL. Hunt is a running back who showed a lot of promise when he first entered the league causing ripples in the NFL as a rookie running back with the Kansas City Chiefs at the time. However, things just have not gone according to plan for this talented player. Now, playing in his seventh season in the league, Hunt has yet to replicate or even come close to his rookie year.
The former Chiefs running back was born on August 6, 1995, in Lorain, Ohio where he would spend his entire life before being drafted. For his high school education, Hunt went to South High School in Willoughby, Ohio and played on the school’s football team. He had two amazing seasons during his junior and senior years as he rushed for 2,519 yards and 39 touchdowns and 2,685 yards and 44 touchdowns respectively earning himself a three-star recruit rating.
Kareem Hunt College
After having some of the best couple of years in high school football, Hunt decided to join the University of Toledo in Ohio for his college education. He played for the Toledo Rockets football team where he played in 12 games during his freshman year starting three of them.
Having a good year overall, Hunt rushed for 866 yards and had 6 rushing touchdowns in 2013. During his freshman year, Hunt had an unbelievable four-game stretch in which he rushed for 127, 114, 168, and 186 rushing yards and had all 6 of his touchdowns on the year against Navy, Bowling Green, Eastern Michigan, and Buffalo respectively.
The former Kansas City Chiefs running back had his best season as a ball carrier in his sophomore year. He finished the year with 1,631 rushing yards and 16 touchdowns on the ground despite missing 3 games due to injury. In all the 10 games that he played, he put up at a minimum of 101 rushing yards.
In 2015, suspension and injuries caused him to miss 4 games of his junior year. Nevertheless, he still finished the year strong with 973 rushing yards and 12 rushing touchdowns.
Overall though, 2016, his senior year of college was the most dominant one as he finished the year strong with 1,475 rushing yards, and 10 touchdowns on the ground. But, he enhanced his receiving game so much so that he had 41 receptions that year having never caught more than 12 passes in his previous three years. His 41 receptions yielded him another 403 yards and another touchdown.
Kareem Hunt in Kansas City
Hunt’s rookie season was one to remember for every NFL fan. The Chiefs were in dire straits when it came to their rushing attack with injuries hampering their backfield. Hunt, being a rookie, was initially going to play a second-fiddle role on the team, easing himself into the demands of the league. But, with all the injuries, he was named the starter from week 1 of the 2017 NFL season.
Hunt, who prided himself as a great handler of the ball and one who never fumbled, was given a grand welcome by the New England Patriots defense that not only tackled him in his very first professional carry but also stripped the ball from his safe hands. It was a shock for Hunt who quickly realized that the NFL is completely different from college-level football. Since then though, Hunt has managed to never lose a fumble in his seven years as a professional and has been stripped only five times.
Making the most out of the situation that presented itself in his rookie season, the 2017 Pro Bowler rushed for a total of 1,327 yards which was astonishingly good enough to lead the league that season. He added 8 rushing touchdowns and also caught the ball 53 times for 455 yards and 3 receiving touchdowns.
In 2018, Hunt was once again having a great year through week 11 as he had posted 824 rushing yards and 7 rushing touchdowns while adding 378 receiving yards and 7 more touchdowns through the air. However, after week 11 of the 2018 season, a video came forth that showed Hunt get into an altercation with a woman in a hotel and he could be seen shoving and kicking her on the floor. The Chiefs decided to release Hunt immediately, terminating his contract with the team.
Kareem Hunt in Cleveland
In 2019, Hunt joined the Cleveland Browns which is where he has been playing for the past five seasons. What started out as a magnificent beginning to his career, quickly fizzled out and Hunt was never able to recover.
In 2019, he was suspended for the first eight games by the league following his physical attack the previous season. This greatly hampered his time on the field. 2020 looked like Hunt would regain his form and could once again become the beast he was a few years ago as he ran for 841 yards by the end of the season.
Since 2021, he has mostly been the backup and his production has reduced greatly. At the moment he is on a one-year deal with the Browns but there is no guarantee what his future holds in 2024.
FAQs
Kareem Hunt has made the Pro Bowl only once in 2017 which was his rookie year.
Kareem Hunt set a 40 time of 4.60 seconds.
Kareem Hunt had nine rushing touchdowns in the 2023 NFL season.
Kareem Hunt is 28 years old as of January 2024. He was born on August 6, 1995.
Kareem Hunt was let go by the Chiefs midway through the 2018 NFL season. The Chiefs won the Super Bowl in 2020 at which point of time Hunt was with the Browns.
