Bobby Hunt, one of the original Cincinnati Bengals and a key piece of the franchise’s first defensive backfield, has died at the age of 85.
The Alabama Sports Hall of Fame, which inducted him in 2015, confirmed the news, offering thoughts and prayers to his family and friends. No cause of death was released.
For Bengals fans, Hunt’s name carries special meaning as part of the team’s earliest history. Selected by Cincinnati in the 1968 AFL expansion draft after six seasons with the Dallas Texans and Kansas City Chiefs, the former Auburn two-way standout arrived in the Queen City as a proven ballhawk ready to help build something new.
He became the starting free safety for Paul Brown’s expansion club and never left the lineup during his two seasons in orange and black.
In 1968, Hunt started 13 of 14 games, contributing one interception, a fumble recovery, and a quarterback sack while helping the young Bengals navigate their inaugural campaign. The following year he started every game, picking off four passes for 66 yards and recovering another fumble.
Those five interceptions over two seasons may not jump off the page compared to the numbers he posted earlier in his career, but they reflected the steady, reliable presence he provided a team still finding its identity.
Hunt’s professional journey began far from Cincinnati. A multi-position star at Lanett High School in Alabama, he played quarterback and safety under Shug Jordan at Auburn, where even rival coach Bear Bryant once called him simply “a great football player.”
Drafted in the 11th round by the Dallas Texans in 1962, he switched fully to safety and immediately made his mark, intercepting eight passes as a rookie and earning first-team All-AFL honors.
He stayed with the franchise through its move to Kansas City, won two AFL championships, and started for the Chiefs in Super Bowl I against the Green Bay Packers. Across eight AFL seasons he never missed a game, finishing with 42 interceptions for 755 return yards and one touchdown.
When the Chiefs left him exposed in the expansion draft, the Bengals claimed him and gained an experienced leader who understood how to play winning football.
Hunt closed out his playing career in Cincinnati after the 1969 season, then spent two years coaching defensive backs with the Buffalo Bills. His total of 112 games and 42 interceptions stand as lasting evidence of a durable and opportunistic career.
From a Bengals perspective, Hunt represents the bridge between the AFL’s established powers and the franchise’s first steps. He was not a household name in Cincinnati the way later stars would become, yet he was there at the beginning, starting in the secondary when the team first took the field.
His passing closes another chapter on the original Bengals and the generation of players who helped give the franchise its foundation.
