The following is a short feature on Hunter, written by Logan Wern, a student assistant in the SID office this summer.
A football player studying to be a chiropractor sounds contradictory. While chiropractors work to heal, football is a high contact sport that is oftentimes hard on the body. Although these concepts are on opposite ends of the spectrum, Marietta senior running back Lamar Hunter (South Euclid/Brush) is happy to call himself a football player and future chiropractor.
Hunter, who transferred from Glenville State as a sophomore, chose to attend Marietta after it met an important piece of criteria in his reselection process. “I wanted to go somewhere with strong academics that would challenge me,” Hunter said. “The Biology department has done just that.”Having shown interest in alternative medicine for a long time, Hunter decided to work toward becoming a chiropractor after talking to fellow Pioneer. “A teammate of mine mentioned chiropractics to me a while ago,” he said. “Through research I became fascinated by the practice to the point that I wanted to pursue it as a career.”
When he is not tearing up the field, Hunter is working toward his career goal by studying the delicate structure of the body in the Biology department. This summer, he is an intern with Dr. Emily Arnold at the Cleveland Chiropractic and Wellness Center.
One familiar quality Hunter sees in both the chiropractics and football is respect. “Dr. Arnold has taught me the importance of building a good relationship with your patients,” Hunter said. “Coach Filkovski has taught me the importance of having a good relationship with my teammates; neither is possible without mutual respect.”
The All-OAC running back ran for 557 yards on 135 carries in nine games as a junior. He added that there are lessons beyond respect that can carry over from chiropractics to football and vice versa. “One thing that I can take from football to my future practice is that preparation and staying focused are essential to success,” Hunter said.
Hunter plans to come back stronger in 2009 with the knowledge he gained from his success last year. “You have to prepare yourself mentally and physically,” Hunter said. “This will help me to be a better player and a better leader.”
