SMU's Margus Hunt towers over contemporaries

MOBILE, Ala. (WALA) - On Wednesday morning, January 22, during the North team practice, one player, the tallest at the Senior Bowl, stood out above the rest.

Southern Methodist defensive end Margus Hunt's height is a storyline in itself for the 2013 Senior Bowl, but FOX10 News learned Hunt has a very interesting past.

While scouts and coaches sat in the stands, it was not hard to spot No. 96, Hunt. The towering man from SMU is this year's tallest Senior Bowl athlete. He imposes at 6-foot-8.

He's a defensive end from Estonia, in Eastern Europe. But he actually made a name for himself throwing a discus. In fact, he broke a junior world record and won medals in track and field before ever thinking about football.

Hunt has come a long way in a short amount of time. Just four years ago, football, for him, was a foreign sport.

SMU Defensive Coordinator Tom Mason said, "[Hunt knew] absolutely nothing. Didn't even know how to put the pads on. No clue."

SMU's men's track program was shuttered and Hunt didn't want to go anywhere else. So the Mustangs' football coaches decided to give him a shot.

Mason said, "We weren’t very good at the time, we were just starting to turn our program around. We didn't have anybody that looked like him."

Hunt said, "[I] starting from X's and O's. Learning the language and then the schemes themselves."

"The good thing about it is he didn't have any bad habits!” said Mason. “He just kept growing every year, getting better and better."

Hunt blocked nine field goal kicks over the course of his football career for an NCAA record. Now, four years after figuring out how to put on the pads, he's practicing at the Senior Bowl.

"I never would've thought that I would be here in four years' time. I didn't even know about this game,” said Hunt.

Hunt said, "It’s definitely been a really weird ride. And I've been blessed with everything."

Margus Hunt is living proof that it's never too late to learn something new.