The writing seemed to be on the wall after he was cut by the Atlanta Falcons back in October. It was the end of the line for A.J. Hawk.
Hawk is going to make that official and file his retirement papers with the league.
The one thing you can say for Hawk, who played nine seasons with the Green Bay Packers, is he was durable. Even when we wished he wasn’t out there, he’d be out there anyway. Hawk only missed two games in his Packers’ career.
The Packers released Hawk after the 2014 season. He signed on to play one year with the Cincinnati Bengals, starting 11 games. Then there was the cup of coffee he had with Atlanta this season, appearing in one game and not recording any stats.
Hawk never lived up to being the No. 5 overall pick in the 2006 NFL draft. He’s probably one of the reasons the inside linebacker position has been devalued in the draft. You no longer see inside linebackers being chosen that high and the Packers don’t choose them until the middle rounds at the earliest.
Despite never turning into the perennial Pro Bowler most people expected, Hawk did record over 100 tackles five times with the Packers. He also remained humble and positive in the face of the criticism that was showered down upon him.
A true professional.
Wish him the best. He was never the player he was supposed to be, but was still a solid league starter.
Live well, pike diver. May your helmet always be found after the pjay and your Mexican Clomid be free of endotoxins.