Linebacker Hunt filling in the holes Ê Darrell Davis The Leader-Post (Regina) Friday, August 30, 2002 The Leader-Post Riders linebacker Reggie Hunt tries to track down Esks running back John Avery earlier this season. Ê ADVERTISEMENT Reggie Hunt gives away 31/2 years, two inches, 60 pounds and four wheels to his younger brother, Aaron Hunt, a defensive end at Texas Tech. "Right now Aaron's driving my car,'' said Hunt, a 6-foot-0, 205-pound rookie who will start his 10th CFL game for the Saskatchewan Roughriders at outside linebacker on Sunday when they meet the visiting Winnipeg Blue Bombers. "I'm renting a truck. "That's what big brothers are for. He didn't miss any meals when we were growing up, partly because of me. I don't like turkey and he does, so he got my share at Christmas and Thanksgiving.'' Reggie Hunt, 24, speaks proudly about his "little'' brother, about how Aaron is now the Red Raiders' career sacks leader (28) and is four shy of breaking the Big 12 conference record. Aaron, a senior, is also a candidate to win the Lombardi Trophy as the top collegiate lineman in the U.S. Reggie Hunt proudly wears No. 9, the same as Aaron. But Reggie Hunt is doing fine too, thank you very much. Along with Keith Stokes and Pat Woodcock of the Montreal Alouettes, the Edmonton Eskimos' Ricky Ray and B.C. Lions' Jason Clermont, Reggie Hunt is among a crop of outstanding CFL rookies. Hunt is Saskatchewan's leading candidate to become the league's outstanding rookie. Hunt leads the Roughriders with 42 defensive tackles (tied for fifth in the CFL) and 10 special teams tackles (tied for sixth). "He's about the same size as most of the running backs he faces, and he feels like he can take them on,'' said Riders assistant head coach/defensive co-ordinator Richie Hall. "His demeanour is like a blue-collar guy's. He's not big-headed. He's a character who fits within the personality of our locker room.'' Hunt actually joined the Roughriders for "two or three days'' for a quick look-see last year. In the offseason he returned to the Dallas-Fort Worth area, took a job at Circuit City and -- after getting invited back to Saskatchewan by head coach Danny Barrett -- began training for another full-fledged shot at playing pro football. As a free agent out of Texas Christian University, Hunt had a tryout with the NFL's San Diego Chargers in 2000 and spent 2001 with NFL Europe's Scotland Claymores. Hunt began playing flag football as a six-year-old in Denison, Tex., about an hour's drive north of Dallas, where he was raised by his mother, Regina, and stepfather, Rayce Guess. Watching how recklessly he plays now, it seemed natural that Hunt adapted to the sport. "I liked football, but then I hated it when I was in Grade 6 or 7 because I didn't like all that tackling and hitting,'' he said. "About Grade 8 I started liking it again because we had an undefeated season. In Grade 12 we were undefeated when we went to the state championship. I was the starting tailback and safety, but I was injured for the championship game. We lost.'' Hunt got scholarship offers, he said, from Florida State, Oklahoma, Michigan, Nebraska and Texas. They told him he could play safety or tailback. He visited Oklahoma, Texas Tech and TCU, deciding that the latter felt "closest to home; my family was too important to go too far away.'' And he decided to play safety. "I had this little theory,'' Hunt said. "I knew there were lots of great tailbacks, but not that many great safeties. "When I got here it was a natural switch to linebacker. I'm a run-to-the-ball type of player anyway. I like being in the mix.'' Hunt has stepped admirably into the vacancy created by the departure of George White, the Western Division's outstanding rookie in 2000 and the team's leading tackler the past two seasons. White, who had a tryout with the NFL's Green Bay Packers, is expected to rejoin the Riders today. It's not likely that White will replace Hunt. "Reggie has become his own person at that position,'' Hall said. "If George comes back this weekend, we'll decide what to do on Monday, or Tuesday, or Wednesday. "It's a situation we're looking forward to, but right now we're looking at Sunday's game. And Reggie will be playing Sunday.