Hunter Taverner Hillenmeyer (born October 28, 1980) is an American football

American football

American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...

 linebacker

Linebacker

A linebacker is a position in American football that was invented by football coach Fielding H. Yost of the University of Michigan. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and line up approximately three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage, behind the defensive linemen...

 who is currently a free agent. He was originally selected by the Green Bay Packers

Green Bay Packers

The Green Bay Packers are an American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. They are members of the North Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League . The Packers are the current NFL champions...

 in the fifth round with the 31st pick of the 2003 NFL Draft

2003 NFL Draft

The 2003 NFL Draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. The draft is known officially as the "NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting" and has been conducted annually since 1936. The draft was held April 26–27, 2003 at the Theatre at...

. Hillenmeyer attended high school at Montgomery Bell Academy

Montgomery Bell Academy

Montgomery Bell Academy is a preparatory day school for boys in grades 7 through 12 in Nashville, Tennessee.The school ideal is "Gentleman, Scholar, Athlete." Montgomery Bell Academy is noted for a large number of National Merit and other scholarship winners...

 in Nashville. He attended college at Vanderbilt University

Vanderbilt University

Vanderbilt University is a private research university located in Nashville, Tennessee, United States. Founded in 1873, the university is named for shipping and rail magnate "Commodore" Cornelius Vanderbilt, who provided Vanderbilt its initial $1 million endowment despite having never been to the...

He is also a columnist for TheStreet.com

TheStreet.com

-History:TheStreet.com, Inc., was co-founded in 1996 by Jim Cramer and Martin Peretz. It is traded on the NASDAQ Global Market. The company is headquartered at 14 Wall Street in New York City. Its stock was made public in May 1999 under the direction of past Chairman and Chief Executive Officer...

.

Early years

Hillenmeyer was a two-time All-state, All-region and All-district selection at Nashville's Montgomery Bell Academy

Montgomery Bell Academy

Montgomery Bell Academy is a preparatory day school for boys in grades 7 through 12 in Nashville, Tennessee.The school ideal is "Gentleman, Scholar, Athlete." Montgomery Bell Academy is noted for a large number of National Merit and other scholarship winners...

 playing Linebacker

Linebacker

A linebacker is a position in American football that was invented by football coach Fielding H. Yost of the University of Michigan. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and line up approximately three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage, behind the defensive linemen...

, Defensive End

Defensive end

Defensive end is the name of a defensive position in the sport of American and Canadian football.This position has designated the players at each end of the defensive line, but changes in formations have substantially changed how the position is played over the years...

, Tight End

Tight end

The tight end is a position in American football on the offense. The tight end is often seen as a hybrid position with the characteristics and roles of both an offensive lineman and a wide receiver. Like offensive linemen, they are usually lined up on the offensive line and are large enough to be...

 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

He was a four-year letterwinner at Vanderbilt (1999–2002) 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, 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).

Pre-draft

Pre-draft measureables
40 yd 40 yard dash The 40-yard dash is a sprint covering . It is primarily run to evaluate the speed of American football players by scouts, particularly for the NFL Draft but also for collegiate recruiting. A player's recorded time in the 40 can have a heavy impact on his prospects in college or professional football...	BP Bench press The bench press is an exercise of the upper body. For bodybuilding purposes, it is used to stimulate the pectorals, deltoids, and triceps. While on his or her back, the person performing the bench press lowers a weight to the level of the chest, then pushes it back up until the arm is straight...	Wonderlic
4.8s*	340 lb	X

(* represents NFL Combine

NFL Combine

The National Invitational Camp or NFL Scouting Combine, as it is more widely known, is a week-long showcase, occurring every February in Indianapolis, Indiana's Lucas Oil Stadium , where college football players perform physical and mental tests in front of National Football League coaches, general...

)

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. He has played alongside All-Pro linebackers Brian Urlacher

Brian Urlacher

Brian Keith Urlacher is an American football player for the Chicago Bears of the National Football League . He attended the University of New Mexico, where he was one of the school's most decorated athletes. In addition to setting multiple university records, Urlacher earned consideration for the...

 and Lance Briggs

Lance Briggs

Lance Marell Briggs is an American football linebacker for the Chicago Bears of the National Football League. He was originally drafted by the Bears in the third round of the 2003 NFL Draft. He played college football at Arizona.-Early years:A Sacramento native, Briggs attended Elk Grove High...

, who have been considered to be one of the best linebacker duos in the league. The Chicago Sun-Times has called Hillenmeyer "underrated". Hillenmeyer replaced Brian Urlacher

Brian Urlacher

Brian Keith Urlacher is an American football player for the Chicago Bears of the National Football League . He attended the University of New Mexico, where he was one of the school's most decorated athletes. In addition to setting multiple university records, Urlacher earned consideration for the...

 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. On September 14, 2010, Hillenmeyer was placed on the Bears injured reserve list after sustaining a concussion in the team's season opener against the Detroit Lions

Detroit Lions

The Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit, Michigan. They are members of the North Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League , and play their home games at Ford Field in Downtown Detroit.Originally based in Portsmouth, Ohio and...

. 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

Kellogg School of Management

The Kellogg School of Management is the business school of Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, downtown Chicago, Illinois and Miami, Florida. Kellogg offers full-time, part-time, and executive programs, as well as partnering programs with schools in China, India, Hong Kong, Israel,...

 at Northwestern University

Northwestern University

Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston and Chicago, Illinois, USA. Northwestern has eleven undergraduate, graduate, and professional schools offering 124 undergraduate degrees and 145 graduate and professional degrees....

 in Evanston, Illinois

Evanston, Illinois

Evanston is a suburban municipality in Cook County, Illinois 12 miles north of downtown Chicago, bordering Chicago to the south, Skokie to the west, and Wilmette to the north, with an estimated population of 74,360 as of 2003. It is one of the North Shore communities that adjoin Lake Michigan...

. 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

Triple H

Paul Michael Levesque is an American professional wrestler, professional wrestling authority figure, WWE Executive Vice President of Talent and actor, better known by his ring name Triple H, an abbreviation of the ring name, Hunter Hearst Helmsley...

" Hunter Hillenmeyer. An interview with Fox News Chicago

WFLD

WFLD, virtual channel 32 , is the Fox owned-and-operated television station, based in Chicago, Illinois; through its parent company News Corporation, the station is owned in a duopoly with area MyNetworkTV affiliate WPWR-TV...

 revealed that Hillenmeyer is married to the daughter of Tim Floyd

Tim Floyd

Tim Floyd is an American college basketball coach and the current head coach of the University of Texas at El Paso Miners men's basketball team. He is also a former head coach of several teams in both the NCAA and the NBA, most recently the University of Southern California men's college...

, former coach of the Iowa State

Iowa State Cyclones men's basketball

The Iowa State Cyclones men's basketball team represents Iowa State University and competes in the Big 12 Conference of NCAA Division I.-Johnny Orr era :...

, Chicago Bulls

Chicago Bulls

The Chicago Bulls are an American professional basketball team based in Chicago, Illinois, playing in the Central Division of the Eastern Conference in the National Basketball Association . The team was founded in 1966. They play their home games at the United Center...

, and Southern California men's basketball teams. Hunter's father is a chef

Chef

A chef is a person who cooks professionally for other people. Although over time the term has come to describe any person who cooks for a living, traditionally it refers to a highly skilled professional who is proficient in all aspects of food preparation.-Etymology:The word "chef" is borrowed ...

 and restaurant owner in Tennessee

Tennessee

Tennessee is a U.S. state located in the Southeastern United States. It has a population of 6,346,105, making it the nation's 17th-largest state by population, and covers , making it the 36th-largest by total land area...

.