It isn’t easy being a young defensive back in the CFL.
“Learning the game is tricky just because of all the motion and movement and things like that (by CFL receivers),” said Eskimos Defensive Backs Coach Barron Miles. “Being a (young player), they’re going to test you and, sometimes, it’s under the gun. A lot of coaches don’t give you that chance to redeem yourself when something bad happens.”
Monshadrik (Money) Hunter, 24, is one of three young international defensive backs who have shown a lot of promise with the Eskimos this season. Tyquwan Glass, 25, who has started four of his eight games in the secondary, and Brian Walker, 23, who held his own while starting six games at SAM (strong-side) linebacker when highly touted free agent Don Unamba was on the six-game injured list, are the other ones.
Hunter played 12 games (nine starts) at several different positions – cornerback, field (wide-side) halfback and SAM linebacker – during his rookie season last year and will make his seventh consecutive start at boundary (short-side) halfback in Friday’s 7 p.m. showdown with the West Division-leading Winnipeg Blue Bombers at The Brick Field at Commonwealth Stadium (TSN, 630 CHED).
“I came on the field when I was needed last year,” he said. “Now I’m a full-time player.”
Injuries in the Eskimos’ secondary helped create opportunities for Hunter to find a place in the starting lineup. The Esks had the international/national roster flexibility to play him at safety for the first two games before national Jordan Hoover took over that position. The six-foot-one, 193-pound Hunter served as a backup for one game, then started every game since at boundary half.
Miles has noticed a big difference in Hunter’s performance this season.
“Just the confidence level, him understanding the CFL, him understanding, ‘OK, what are they throwing at me?’ It’s not new anymore,” Miles said. “It’s like first-time boxing, and you get hit in the face. It’s like ‘Whoa, what’s going on?’ That’s what he was like the first year. Now it’s more like, ‘OK, I see this punch coming. I’m ready to take this.’ And then he can move on.
“He’s a versatile player, and that’s what you want out of your athletes,” Miles continued. “He’s headed in the right direction, doing the right things to prepare himself. You see talent, you see potential, and then you just hope it blossoms.”
Having adjusted last season to the waggle – the running start by CFL receivers before the line of scrimmage – Hunter said he feels like “I’ve been helping the team where I need to be” this year. He has 27 defensive tackles in only nine games to rank third on the Eskimos behind linebackers Larry Dean (41) and rookie Vontae Diggs (30).
He enjoyed getting the opportunity to play the first two games at safety, which he played in college, “but I was needed elsewhere,” he said with a shrug. “That’s not somewhere I need to be. No, it’s just somewhere I wanted to be. I liked being there.”
Hunter made one of his two special teams tackles this season in a crucial situation when he stopped Ottawa RedBlacks receiver Refael Araujo-Lopes cold at the Edmonton one-yard line on a two-point convert attempt at the end of the first quarter on Aug. 16 at The Brick Field at Commonwealth Stadium.
“Actually, I felt like I didn’t get a clean hit on him like I wanted to,” he said. “I don’t think I squared up with him good enough. I felt like I hit him with my chest more than anything. It could have been better technique.”
The Eskimos defence, as a whole, turned into a brick wall when opponents got deep into Edmonton territory the last two games.
“You’ve got to take pride when you get inside the five-yard line,” Hunter said. “Once you get down here, it gets nitty and gritty. You’ve got to say, ‘ You’re going to kick this field goal, and that’s it. Or you’re not going to score at all.’
“There’s no touchdown. We choose not to give up touchdowns. That’s a mindset, and that’s just having heart.”
How did Hunter get the nickname of Money? He’s not really sure, but he’s had it as long as he can remember.
“People couldn’t pronounce my name,” he explained. “I had a lot of back-history with ‘Money’ when I was young. I just ended up liking the name ‘Money’ and took it on.
“Somewhere, I either found it, got it or acquired it somehow. It was like, ‘You’re too young to have all that money.’ ‘Where did you get that money?’ So just call me ‘Money.’ ”
OK, Money it is.
“I grew in a tough area in a tough situation,” said Hunter, whose father, Torii, was a five-time MLB all-star who finished his 19-year career with 2,452 hits, 353 home runs, 195 stolen bases and nine consecutive Golden Glove awards as a centre-fielder with the Minnesota Twins, Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim and Detroit Tigers.
“I stayed with my mom before I stayed with my dad,” he continued. “She lives in Pine Bluff, Ark. It was definitely a tough situation.
“Right now, the only reason why I’m doing what I’m doing is definitely just to get my mom out of where she is and the area she is and the rest of my family.”
Hunter moved to the Dallas-Fort Worth area to live with his father and his wife, Katrina, before his Grade 9 year.
“I got in some trouble,” he admitted. “I had to go to Texas with my dad. I’m grateful for it. I’m thankful for it. I’m glad I got out of the situation. I’m glad that he ended up putting me where I needed to be to be where I am now.”
While Hunter had the opportunity to visit Major League Baseball locker rooms on occasion while growing up – one of the perks of having a father who played professional baseball – his dad wasn’t always around.
“We all were athletes,” he said about his two half-brothers, Torii Jr. and Darius McClinton-Hunter, on his father’s side, “so at the end of the day, we were busy as well with baseball, basketball, football. Sometimes we ran track.
“We were all busy, and my Pops had his own schedule as well. So we couldn’t always be together, but – when we did – he had us in (the locker room) and making sure we were seeing everything.”
Hunter’s hopes of being a two-sport star at Arkansas State ended early when he suffered a shoulder injury (torn labrum, sprained AC joint) during his freshman season with the football team. But baseball was never really his target for a professional career.
“Football was always my dream just because of the hitting and everything,” he said. “Baseball was just sit back and more patience and all that. I felt like this was a faster game for me.”
Hunter set a NCAA Sun Belt Conference record by returning four of his six career interceptions for touchdowns during 51 games as a four-year starter with the Red Wolves from 2013-16. Included was a school-record 99-yard interception return TD in 2015 and a 94-yard runback in 2014 for the longest scoring play in GoDaddy Bowl history.
“I feel like I’m an offensive player on the defensive side of the ball,” he said. “When I get the ball in my hands, all I see is the end zone.”
Hunter hasn’t been able to take any of his three CFL interceptions to the house, but he’s working on it. He returned his only interception this season 25 yards and last years two picks a total of 28 yards.
Hunter didn’t play football in 2017 after his final college season.
“I was actually recovering from an injury,” he said. “I broke my foot coming out of college. I had a screw in it and everything. I had to recover from that, so I was sitting at home, working out, getting my foot better.
“Eventually, the Eskimos came down to Dallas for a workout. My agents put me in there, and I did what I had to do, and I’m here.”