Saints sign Hunter Dekkers quarterback to roster after rookie minicamp Tuesday tryout was a success originally appeared on Pro Football Talk. With this acquisition, the team now has four quarterbacks on the roster under the age of 27. Dekkers’ signing comes just one day after Derek Carr announced his retirement. This leaves the Saints on the cusp of a brand-new chapter as they continue to overhaul their quarterback room.
Hunter Dekkers, a star quarterback for Iowa State in 2022, encountered critical setbacks in 2023. These problems eventually earned him a death penalty of their own – the loss of his NCAA eligibility. During their investigation into illegal sports gambling, the Iowa Criminal Division discovered a shocking truth. Dekkers personally lost around $7,300 after placing roughly 366 bets during a three-year span on his mother’s DraftKings account. He placed a $15 wager on the Iowa State University football team’s performance in December of 2021. Yet curiously, he didn’t play in that game.
At Iowa State, Dekkers started all 12 games in the 2022 season. He threw 66% of his passes with a healthy average being 3,044 yards. He passed for 19 touchdowns, but he tossed 14 interceptions. He looked too good to be true, yet he didn’t step foot on a football field in 2023. Rather, he went the 2024 season route playing for Iowa Western Community College.
Dekkers’ gambling actions have brought down the hammer. He is one of 35 people at Iowa and Iowa State currently charged with or under threat of criminal charges/loss of eligibility for similar offenses. He expressed remorse regarding his situation, stating, “It was just a mistake that I made, and I have to live with it for the rest of my life.”
Dekkers continues to deny any wrongdoing in regard to the integrity of the game. “I wasn’t throwing games, I wasn’t shaving points, and I would never do that,” he asserted, emphasizing his commitment to ethical play.
Now, with this new chance to play for the Saints, Dekkers has the opportunity to restart his football career and use his past actions as a learning experience. So far the team has put its money where its mouth is by giving him the opportunity to show he can succeed at the pro level.
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