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OSUBasketballJunkie
Never Forget 31-0
Great to see Hawk go to a historic franchise like Green Bay where his play will fit right in. Good luck A.J.
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OSUBasketballJunkie
Never Forget 31-0
Here is a pic of Hawk in the next version of Madden....
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Did I just see AJ in an UnderArmor commercial? Click clack bitches. :p
Sorry if this is old
Sorry if this is old
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LoKyBuckeye
I give up. This board is too hard to understand.
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Link
4/29
A.J. Hawk a throwback to previous era
BY LORI NICKEL
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
GREEN BAY, Wis. - In four seasons of college football, A.J. Hawk never missed a game. Or a practice. Or a workout.
The Ohio State linebacker is just solid, as a tackler, a teammate, and as a leader. He is a B-average student who wants his degree, a patriotic American and a quiet leader uninterested in being in the spotlight. There was no way he was going to fly to New York this weekend so they could stick cameras in his face as the Green Bay Packers picked him as the No. 5 overall pick in the NFL draft.
Instead, he remained at home to share the day with 30 members of his family.
Is this 2006 or 1966?
"Oh, Vince Lombardi would be proud," said Ohio State coach Jim Tressel on Saturday. "All of us who are middle aged like I am remember the glory years of the Packers. Wouldn't it be neat if he could help spark those again?"
Indeed, the thought is tempting. Draft weekend is a dangerous time because general managers, coaches and analysts proclaim men in their early 20s to be the next great thing. All over the country, every team got their man, and every player has a great work ethic.
And yet there is something retro about Hawk's game and no-glitz lifestyle that harkens the olden days of Ray Nitschke to make those claims in Green Bay seem genuine.
"Quite frankly, I had my heart set on this guy," said Packers general manager Ted Thompson.
The first reason for that has to be Hawk's dedication to the game and discipline to improve his talent. Hawk takes the expression "every down player" literally. Tressel said that even as the Buckeyes were leading Northwestern, 48-7, in the final home game in Columbus last season, Hawk fought the coaches who wanted to pull him "so that 105,000 could salute him."
Hawk was in no hurry to make his millions, either.
"He stayed his fourth year" at Ohio State, Tressel said. "He could have been a first-round draft choice last year, but he was having too much fun with his teammates and too much fun being a Buckeye, having his family living an hour down the road enjoying every game."
Hawk has never missed a practice or a game in college. An injury his senior year at Centerville (Ohio) High School was the only thing that could sideline him.
"Never missed a snap," said Hawk's mom, Judy, Saturday afternoon. "He played through several knee injuries. He's had swollen ankles, he's had Achilles', had scopes and all that. What football players don't?
"But he doesn't stop. He plays. We didn't even know it. (Hawk's father) Keith found out when he was limping a little bit, this was his senior year in high school. But he just played. He didn't want to let people down."
Before he gets swept away by his future in the NFL, Hawk wants to stick to his plan. The criminology major who carries a 3.0 grade-point average will graduate in June when he finishes one last tough five-credit class_in statistics.
"His degree is very important to him, he is bound and determined to graduate," said Judy Hawk. "For pride. For something to fall back on."
As other teams invited him to visit their facilities, Hawk did so only if he was allowed to workout first that morning and was allowed to go to class. It sometimes meant moving his 6 a.m. workout to 4:30 a.m. to fit everything in.
"He's just one of those kids that will be working like crazy," Tressel said. "What the team needs is what's most important. He's that type of kid_he cares about the cause, he cares about the group."
The Hawks are from Centerville, Ohio, a suburb of Dayton. Keith Hawk played high school football as did his three sons: Matt (27) and Ryan (24), who played quarterback for Ohio University and now plays for Birmingham in AF2, an arena football minor league.
They were, of course, ultra competitive but A.J.'s gift was evident very early.
"They broke couches and broke windows," said Judy Hawk. "But literally from two or three years old he's always been better than everyone. It's not like fifth, sixth grade we all figured out he had something. He's always had it. He's always worked really hard and this was not an overnight success."
As he matured throughout college, Hawk became a fan of late Arizona Cardinal and U.S. soldier Pat Tillman. Hawk wears his hair long in honor of his idol and took up hunting and target shooting, also hobbies of Tillman's.
A Republican and believer in the war in Iraq, Hawk once told Tressel that if he hadn't become a football player, he would have been a Navy SEAL.
He thought all along that he would be best in Green Bay when he met Packers linebackers coach Winston Moss.
"I would say (he was) more humble more than anything, and that was refreshing," Moss said. "You get into those interview sessions, and they try to sell themselves to some extent, and I don't think A.J. did that. I think he was just himself, which we really appreciated, and I think he really came forward pretty well."
The Hawk family agreed: this is an ideal match between a solid football player and an organization rich with tradition and history.
"We thought it was between the 49ers and Green Bay, and he really wanted Green Bay," said Judy Hawk. "Cold weather, no problem, he plays better in the cold weather. He's a Midwest guy. He's right where he wanted to go."
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4/29
A.J. Hawk a throwback to previous era
BY LORI NICKEL
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
GREEN BAY, Wis. - In four seasons of college football, A.J. Hawk never missed a game. Or a practice. Or a workout.
The Ohio State linebacker is just solid, as a tackler, a teammate, and as a leader. He is a B-average student who wants his degree, a patriotic American and a quiet leader uninterested in being in the spotlight. There was no way he was going to fly to New York this weekend so they could stick cameras in his face as the Green Bay Packers picked him as the No. 5 overall pick in the NFL draft.
Instead, he remained at home to share the day with 30 members of his family.
Is this 2006 or 1966?
"Oh, Vince Lombardi would be proud," said Ohio State coach Jim Tressel on Saturday. "All of us who are middle aged like I am remember the glory years of the Packers. Wouldn't it be neat if he could help spark those again?"
Indeed, the thought is tempting. Draft weekend is a dangerous time because general managers, coaches and analysts proclaim men in their early 20s to be the next great thing. All over the country, every team got their man, and every player has a great work ethic.
And yet there is something retro about Hawk's game and no-glitz lifestyle that harkens the olden days of Ray Nitschke to make those claims in Green Bay seem genuine.
"Quite frankly, I had my heart set on this guy," said Packers general manager Ted Thompson.
The first reason for that has to be Hawk's dedication to the game and discipline to improve his talent. Hawk takes the expression "every down player" literally. Tressel said that even as the Buckeyes were leading Northwestern, 48-7, in the final home game in Columbus last season, Hawk fought the coaches who wanted to pull him "so that 105,000 could salute him."
Hawk was in no hurry to make his millions, either.
"He stayed his fourth year" at Ohio State, Tressel said. "He could have been a first-round draft choice last year, but he was having too much fun with his teammates and too much fun being a Buckeye, having his family living an hour down the road enjoying every game."
Hawk has never missed a practice or a game in college. An injury his senior year at Centerville (Ohio) High School was the only thing that could sideline him.
"Never missed a snap," said Hawk's mom, Judy, Saturday afternoon. "He played through several knee injuries. He's had swollen ankles, he's had Achilles', had scopes and all that. What football players don't?
"But he doesn't stop. He plays. We didn't even know it. (Hawk's father) Keith found out when he was limping a little bit, this was his senior year in high school. But he just played. He didn't want to let people down."
Before he gets swept away by his future in the NFL, Hawk wants to stick to his plan. The criminology major who carries a 3.0 grade-point average will graduate in June when he finishes one last tough five-credit class_in statistics.
"His degree is very important to him, he is bound and determined to graduate," said Judy Hawk. "For pride. For something to fall back on."
As other teams invited him to visit their facilities, Hawk did so only if he was allowed to workout first that morning and was allowed to go to class. It sometimes meant moving his 6 a.m. workout to 4:30 a.m. to fit everything in.
"He's just one of those kids that will be working like crazy," Tressel said. "What the team needs is what's most important. He's that type of kid_he cares about the cause, he cares about the group."
The Hawks are from Centerville, Ohio, a suburb of Dayton. Keith Hawk played high school football as did his three sons: Matt (27) and Ryan (24), who played quarterback for Ohio University and now plays for Birmingham in AF2, an arena football minor league.
They were, of course, ultra competitive but A.J.'s gift was evident very early.
"They broke couches and broke windows," said Judy Hawk. "But literally from two or three years old he's always been better than everyone. It's not like fifth, sixth grade we all figured out he had something. He's always had it. He's always worked really hard and this was not an overnight success."
As he matured throughout college, Hawk became a fan of late Arizona Cardinal and U.S. soldier Pat Tillman. Hawk wears his hair long in honor of his idol and took up hunting and target shooting, also hobbies of Tillman's.
A Republican and believer in the war in Iraq, Hawk once told Tressel that if he hadn't become a football player, he would have been a Navy SEAL.
He thought all along that he would be best in Green Bay when he met Packers linebackers coach Winston Moss.
"I would say (he was) more humble more than anything, and that was refreshing," Moss said. "You get into those interview sessions, and they try to sell themselves to some extent, and I don't think A.J. did that. I think he was just himself, which we really appreciated, and I think he really came forward pretty well."
The Hawk family agreed: this is an ideal match between a solid football player and an organization rich with tradition and history.
"We thought it was between the 49ers and Green Bay, and he really wanted Green Bay," said Judy Hawk. "Cold weather, no problem, he plays better in the cold weather. He's a Midwest guy. He's right where he wanted to go."
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http://msn.foxsports.com/nfl/pgStory?contentId=5553408&pageNumber=13
Easy being Green
Green Bay Packers fans react to the Packers first-round selection of Ohio State lineback A.J. Hawk with the 5th overall pick.
(Mike Roemer/Associated Press)
He's a big dude
A.J. Hawk, a linebacker from Ohio State, looks upstairs to a relative while being interviewed at his home. Hawk was selected in the first round, fifth overall, in the NFL Draft by the Green Bay Packers.
(David Kohl/Associated Press)
[FONT=arial,helvetica]
Former Ohio State linebacker A.J. Hawk gets a hug from his mother, Judy, after he was selected in the first round (fifth overall) by the Green Bay Packers. (AP)[/FONT]
Easy being Green
Green Bay Packers fans react to the Packers first-round selection of Ohio State lineback A.J. Hawk with the 5th overall pick.
(Mike Roemer/Associated Press)
He's a big dude
A.J. Hawk, a linebacker from Ohio State, looks upstairs to a relative while being interviewed at his home. Hawk was selected in the first round, fifth overall, in the NFL Draft by the Green Bay Packers.
(David Kohl/Associated Press)
Former Ohio State linebacker A.J. Hawk gets a hug from his mother, Judy, after he was selected in the first round (fifth overall) by the Green Bay Packers. (AP)[/FONT]
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OSUBasketballJunkie
Never Forget 31-0
Dispatch
4/30/06
4/30/06
Hawk happy as Packer
OSU All-American goes to Green Bay with fifth selection
Sunday, April 30, 2006
Tim May
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH
</IMG> NEAL C . LAURON Former Ohio State linebacker A.J. Hawk receives plenty of media attention at his home.
</IMG> A.J. Hawk is impressed by the tradition and fan support of the Packers.
CENTERVILLE, Ohio — In the middle of the frenzy that ensued in the home of A.J. Hawk’s parents yesterday after Green Bay made him the fifth pick of the NFL draft, his grandmother, Georgiana Poeppelman, stood quietly and smiled.
Even though one of her grandkids had hit the big time, it was funny the first memory that popped into her head.
"I changed his diapers many a time," she said, laughing. "I babysat him, and I loved every minute of it."
Now he’s a bonus baby, worth millions.
"Just so he keeps his health, that’s all I care," she said.
Hawk, an All-American linebacker from Ohio State, had been hoping Green Bay would make the call. When it came, he took it in the laundry room, his father, Keith, at his side.
"You’ve been waiting for this a long time and working for this day," A.J. Hawk said.
"This definitely isn’t the end. This is the beginning. I want to go up there and prove I can play, make the team and try to have an impact."
He became just the seventh OSU linebacker drafted in the first round.
"It’s exactly where he wanted to go," Keith Hawk said. "And he didn’t think he was going to go there last night. He thought he was going to go to San Francisco."
He preferred Green Bay over San Francisco, the city by the bay?
"He’s a cheapskate, you know? " Keith Hawk said, laughing. "He said, ‘I can buy a lot nicer house for a lot less money in Green Bay.’ I said, ‘Dude, you can afford it either place.’ "
Even though A.J. Hawk can expect a big contract — it likely will be higher than the $13.5 million guaranteed the 2005 No. 5 pick, PacMan Jones of the Tennessee Titans — he said his opinion was based on more than housing costs.
"It’s the tradition, the history, the great fans," A.J. Hawk said. "That’s what I’m excited for. A lot of people talk about playing in the NFL, that it is not quite the same atmosphere as college. But I think Green Bay, it seems like they definitely have the fans and the support of everybody around them."
Hawk’s mother, Judy, understood. The magnitude of seeing her third son reach the heights, "I keep saying it, but it’s surreal," she said. "But you know what, he deserves it."
Not only has he grown up and secured employment, he’s engaged to Laura Quinn, who prepared the food for the party of more than 30 family members and friends. She said Hawk will be a perfect fit in Green Bay.
"He’s not a showy guy," she said. "You can see he’s not in New York today.
He’s sitting at home with his family and friends which is most important to him. On top of that, he has worked his butt off his entire life and he deserves every great thing which comes his way."
Laura Quinn’s father, Ty, seconded that. He and his wife, Robin, took it all in yesterday, perhaps picking up hints for a similar party at their Dublin home next year. Their son, Notre Dame’s Brady Quinn, likely will be one of the top quarterback prospects.
"Maybe, maybe," Ty Quinn said.
Laura Quinn was already thinking about that, and about the off-and-on status of Green Bay quarterback Brett Favre.
"You never know. Next year, if Brett Favre leaves, there may be a spot for another family member with the Packers," she said.
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LoKyBuckeye
I give up. This board is too hard to understand.
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Packers turn back to black and blue
A.J. Hawk, the Packers first-round draft choice, poses with his jersey and Packers general manager Ted Thompson Saturday at Lambeau Field. Evan Siegle/PackersNews.com
By Pete Dougherty
PackersNews.com
Ted Thompson is making over the Green Bay Packers, and they’re taking shape of a defensive-oriented team built to finish the NFL season in the harsh Wisconsin winter.
Saturday’s especially eventful draft day saw the team’s general manager make a major move to stock a defense that’s been mediocre or worse since the late 1990s, though the Packers also took a major hit on offense with the inevitable trade of receiver Javon Walker.
Thompson decided about three weeks ago that he wanted Ohio State linebacker A.J. Hawk with the fifth overall pick. That meant passing over, among others, Maryland tight end Vernon Davis, whom Thompson determined also will make an immediate and perhaps profound impact in the NFL.
Even knowing he probably was going to unload Walker, Thompson rated Hawk as the better player and fit for a team that has floundered on defense for years. Combined with several offseason signings, notably that of cornerback Charles Woodson, Thompson clearly has focused on defense with his team in his second year as GM.
Selecting Hawk reflects the influence of Thompson’s mentor, retired GM Ron Wolf, who emphasized building a team to play well in the winter at Lambeau Field.
Thompson is looking for Hawk, a throwback, to immediately lend a Black and Blue Division identity to a defense that has been a weak link for years.
“(Defense) is absolutely key,” Thompson said Saturday. “The Pittsburgh Steelers are a prime example, the Super Bowl champions. Their defense is outstanding. They have a good, solid offense, but what they do is wham the ball, throw the ball in play action, but they play defense and get turnovers. Obviously, defense is unbelievably important, and you can’t win a championship without a defense.”
Thompson’s wheeling and dealing on Saturday showed how much he values draft picks, a testament the rebuilding job he thinks he faces.
With the help of the second-rounder he picked up from Denver for Walker, he parlayed the seven picks he had going into the draft into 11 picks by the end of the day. If he finishes the draft with 11 selections, it will be the second year in a row he’s turned seven picks into 11 for the Packers.
“We need to add more core, young guys to our team,” Thompson said. “Hopefully, through these two drafts, we’ve been able to do part of that.”
With his five first-day picks, Thompson addressed the Packers’ offense, but his decision to go with Hawk over Davis means the Packers could be lacking offensive playmakers again this season.
Thompson selected two offensive linemen, including one in the second round, Daryn Colledge, who should have a decent shot at winning one of the two starting jobs at guard.
But there might not be much, if any, immediate help for quarterback Brett Favre at the Packers’ depleted skill positions. No matter how promising the Packers consider the future of another second-round pick, receiver Greg Jennings of Western Michigan, he plays a position where few rookies excel.
Walker is gone, as is promising receiver Terrence Murphy, a second-round pick last year who was released because of a neck injury that probably will end his career. That leaves Donald Driver as the lone player of accomplishment at receiver, where Robert Ferguson or Rod Gardner is the likely second starter for now.
Running back Ahman Green, 29, is coming back from a serious injury (torn quadriceps tendon), so there’s no knowing what level of play he’ll attain.
Coach Mike McCarthy nonetheless was confident about his team’s ability to score.
“Our talent level, we’ll be able to win football games,” he said Saturday. “I’ve been around better and I’ve been around worse. It’s a group effort. It’s an ability to come together on offense. I don’t think the cupboard’s bare at all.”
Regardless, Thompson’s biggest move was selecting Hawk. Many NFL scouts and pundits predicted the pick because of the Packers’ needs on defense. Davis was an equally viable option because his rare playmaking talent at tight end would have been a major addition to an offense about to lose Walker.
The Packers expect Hawk to be an immediate difference-maker — he was considered perhaps more NFL-ready than any player in this draft — and it will be a disappointment if he isn’t the team’s best defensive player as a rookie.
He’ll be the starting weak-side linebacker at his first minicamp and almost certainly will be the Packers’ every-down linebacker, supplanting Nick Barnett in the dime pass defense. Those two players should give the Packers as much speed and closing ability as any pair of linebackers in the NFL.
“He’s never going to come out on passing downs. He can rush the passer. He can do a lot of things,” Thompson said of Hawk. “This may come back to haunt me when we’re trying to do a contract with him: This is a really good football player.”
Hawk more than meets the physical criteria for a high pick. Thompson said he tested out as the most athletic linebacker in this draft (a 4.42-second 40-yard dash and a 40-inch vertical jump).
Thompson also appeared to covet Hawk’s football IQ, temperament and background. Hawk played at a major football school in the Midwest, and was an understated but natural leader at Ohio State who led a group of linebackers in 6 a.m. workout sessions during the offseason.
“The fans here are going to love this guy. He’s all football,” Thompson said. “There’s not any category I think of where I think, ‘I’m going to worry about this.’”
Linebackers coach Winston Moss said: “If (Hawk) has one transition that might take a minute, maybe it’s — we’re going to ask our linebackers to match (pass) patterns a lot. One thing he doesn’t show on film is go ahead and pattern-read and do a lot of things in coverage standpoint. But there’s nothing to say he can’t do it.”
Thompson’s other picks were redundant — Iowa linebacker Abdul Hodge and Louisville guard Jason Spitz — and illustrate the Packers’ needs at both positions.
Thompson mentioned several times his desire to draft what he called “real football players,” and he said that was the common theme of his picks on Saturday.
“Tough guys, smart guys,” he said in defining a real football player. “I think they’re going to fit in well.”
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