An Iowa high school passing record-holder who rebuilt his career at a junior college after a gambling suspension.
Hunter Dekkers is a quarterback with the New Orleans Saints whose path to the NFL ran through a junior college comeback. Once Brock Purdy's backup at Iowa State, Dekkers was ruled ineligible following a gambling investigation, rebuilt his stock at Iowa Western Community College, and signed with New Orleans as an undrafted free agent in 2025.
Path to the league
A Hawarden, Iowa native who set state high school records with 10,628 career passing yards and 126 touchdown passes at West Sioux High School, Dekkers played for Iowa State from 2020-2022, backing up Brock Purdy before taking over as starter in 2022. After sitting out 2023 due to NCAA sanctions, he enrolled at Iowa Western Community College in 2024 and went undrafted in the 2025 NFL Draft.
Career highlights
At Iowa Western in 2024, Dekkers led the Reivers to an 11-2 record and an appearance in the NJCAA Division I championship game, completing 64.1 percent of his passes for a school-record 3,806 yards, 32 touchdowns and just 10 interceptions. In May 2023, he was investigated for illegal sports gambling and later pleaded guilty to underage gambling, a matter tied to bets placed on Iowa State games during his time as a backup quarterback, which led to his NCAA suspension.
2025 season recap
Dekkers signed with the Saints as an undrafted free agent and spent his rookie year on New Orleans' practice squad before being promoted to the active roster on December 31, 2025. He also played for the UFL's Houston Gamblers in early 2026, throwing for 748 yards, before re-signing with the Saints in June 2026.
Sources
- Wikipedia: Hunter Dekkers
- ESPN: Hunter Dekkers
Player Profile
Background
- Position
- Quarterback
- Group
- offense
- College
- Iowa Western Community
- Hometown
- Hawarden, IA, USA
- Age
- 25
- Status
- active
