Danielle Hunter named NFC Defensive Player of the Week
MINNEAPOLIS, MN - DECEMBER 08: David Blough #10 of the Detroit Lions gets sacked by Danielle Hunter #99 of the Minnesota Vikings in the first quarter at U.S. Bank Stadium on December 8, 2019 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The Minnesota Vikings defeated t (Getty)
EAGAN, Minn. (FOX 9) - It’s been a good week for Minnesota Vikings defensive end Danielle Hunter.
On Saturday, his Louisiana State Tigers won the SEC title game and secured a spot in the College Football Playoffs. Then on Sunday, he had a three-sack performance against the Detroit Lions, which earned him the honor of NFC Defensive Player of the Week.
This is the second time Hunter has been awarded NFC Player of the Week.
Along with the weekly honor, Hunter also became the youngest player in NFL history, at 25 years and 167 days old, to reach 50 sacks. He has 12.5 sacks through 13 games this seaoson, and now has 52.5 for his career.
“It’s an honor, I definitely didn’t do it by myself. Teammates, coaches and all that. If it wasn’t for them, I wouldn’t have been where I’m at today. If it was an individual effort, I would’ve been nowhere close to it,” Hunter said after Sunday's win.
Vikings coach Mike Zimmer said Wednesday they saw plenty of potential from Hunter when they drafted him out of LSU in 2015.
"We looked at his athletic ability, which is top notch. We looked at the type of person he is, which is top notch. We looked at his sack numbers and why he didn’t have very many and felt like if we changed some of his angles and some of the things that he did, did we know he was going to have 50 sacks at 25 or something? No, but we felt like we could improve him as a pass rusher," Zimmer said.
Hunter is the 17th player to be named NFC Defensive Player of the Week under head coach Mike Zimmer.