Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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the elder Hunter said. "I'm driving and I hear, 'Beep beep beep beep beep.' It starts going crazy. … I had recorded it, so I was able, when I got home, to see it. "I teared up because I know how far he's come." He was not the only one claiming the room was suddenly dusty. The younger Hunter got to the sideline after the 13‑yard score and quickly found the phone to the coaches' booth with offensive coordinator and wide receivers coach Mike Denbrock on the other end. His praise brought the wideout to the brink of tears filled with relief. "I got choked up after all this hard work, it's finally paid off," he said. "I know there's a lot more work to be done, but just to get that touchdown, it was a sigh of relief. … It brought up a lot of emotions." The elder Hunter refers to "how far" his son has come. The son de‑ scribes the payoff as "finally." Hunt‑ er 's injury history prompts the figura‑ tively lengthy adjectives. First, he suffered a broken femur his senior year of high school. The break kept Hunter out of game action throughout his freshman year, but he joined the Irish scout team once he was healthy enough to represent each opponent's best receiver. His performances elicited rave re‑ views from the Notre Dame coaching staff and players alike, and he won Offensive Scout Team Player of the Year honors. Hunter typically lined up across from then‑sophomore cor‑ nerback KeiVarae Russell (separated from the team this season due to the academic dishonesty investigation). Russell's trash talk did not faze the confident freshman, who would re‑ spond with verbal jabs he hoped were worthy of those he portrayed, such as Arizona State wide receiver Jaelen Strong. "I didn't want to be a punk," Hunter said to explain his trash talk — but apparently silence is far from golden on the practice field. Poised to break into the receiver rotation this season, Hunter injured his groin the opening week of fall practices. "I was like, 'Not again,'" he said of his initial reaction to the injury, though he also recognized immedi‑ ately it was not as severe as his bro‑ ken leg. "I knew I'd miss some time. … It was frustration all over again." Hunter slowly worked his way back to the field, but remained cau‑ tious at first. If fool me once equals shame on you and fool me twice leads to shame on me, Hunter did not in‑ tend to learn what fool me thrice cre‑ ated. Only days before the Syracuse contest did he regain the explosive‑ ness that earned him a scholarship offer in the first place. "I wasn't full speed, but I felt like I could move a lot more," he said. "I don't know what I did that day, maybe I had my Wheaties. Whatever I did that day, I felt a lot more explo‑ sive. "I was jumping up for balls, coming down on the left leg a lot more. It was that day that I knew I wasn't really as hurt as I [once] was." Others noticed and quietly breathed their own sighs of relief. Irish head