Alumni

HOD at Work - Hunter Hillenmeyer

Tackling today and tomorrow

It's a sunny Chicago afternoon, and Hunter Hillenmeyer, BS '03, is fighting traffic to get to his downtown business school class. Not exactly what you might expect a successful NFL linebacker to be doing in the off season. "Your entire time in the NFL is a transition period," says Hunter, who has been a standout young linebacker in his three seasons with the Chicago Bears. The Nashville native hopes to combine an MBA degree from Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management with his NFL earnings to pursue entrepreneurial endeavors in future years.

But even with a goal of earning an MBA through Kellogg's part-time program in four years or less, Hunter isn't spending every minute off the field crunching numbers. In fact, he views free time in the off season as perhaps the best perk of big-time football.

"I would think most people would guess you'd say the money," Hunter replies, when considering the best thing about his job. "But if you don't love the game, no matter what the money is, it's not worth it." The high stress, the physical punishment, the ever-present possibility of injury make what he calls "an inherently selfish job" no walk in the park. Hunter says the players are totally committed to the game during the football season. But, he adds, they also look forward to their hard-earned downtime, often enjoying exotic and extended travel.

"The rest of the year, you can do whatever you want," he says, which for him means taking frequent two- and three-day trips, including back to Nashville to visit his family.

A record-setting player at Montgomery Bell Academy, Hunter didn't exactly count on getting tapped for the NFL.

"It's such a guessing game," he says, recalling how coaches, agents, and scouts were giving him feedback on his chances as he approached his senior year in college. His realistic approach to what many high school players only dream of doing led him to Vanderbilt at the start.

"It was down to Vanderbilt and Princeton. I knew I thought I wanted to play big-time football, but I always knew I wanted a great education," he says. He thought Vanderbilt being in the SEC would better allow him to test his chances.

"I wanted to at least see where the whole football thing would lead me," he says. "If I'd gone to Princeton, I probably wouldn't be in the NFL. Not many players come out of the Ivy League to the NFL."

An accomplished senior year at Vanderbilt brought many accolades: first-team All-SEC, first-team Academic All-America, and one of six Division I-A football National Scholar-Athlete awards. The self-described "team player" remembers that time as a college highlight, when he enjoyed the recognition he received for accomplishments both on and off the field.

He graduated with a double major in HOD and economics, a combination he says educated him in both the financial and theoretical sides of business. When he was drafted by Green Bay in the 5th round, his NFL dream seemed to be coming true, but then the team cut him a few weeks into the 2003 season.

"It was a tumultuous time," he recalls. "There was that day there when I wasn't sure if I was done with playing football." But the Bears signed him to the practice squad almost immediately and put him on the active roster less than a month later. Although he currently is available for contract negotiations with other teams, he anticipates playing for the Bears again in the 2006 season.

Hunter says he now views the team switch as a lucky break that landed him in a great city with a vibrant cultural and social life and gave him a chance to get off the bench early on.

"Things just really couldn't go any better," he sums up, pointing to the Bears as a defense leader in the NFL. He laughs when he describes himself now, at 25, as "about to become one of the older players."

Even though his NFL football career may end in a few short years, Hunter already is thinking about the next thing. An important skill he honed balancing football and classes at Vanderbilt continues to serve him well.

"It's when you're at your busiest that you manage your time well," he says, adding that his HOD professors probably would be proud of that lesson learned. "Football actually helped me get that work done," Hunter says. "I'm an eternal Vanderbilt football fan."