Biography

Hawkins was born in Jordan, Montana and attended Shasta High School in Redding, California. He played college football at the University of the Pacific. Hawkins was drafted by the Denver Broncos in the 1960 American Football League Draft, and is one of only twenty AFL players who were in the AFL for all of the league's 10-year run.

Hawkins started as right guard for the Raiders from the teams' inception in 1960 thru the 1969 AFL season. He played on the Raiders' taxi squad in 1970, and announced his retirement in 1971. He was later voted to the All-Time Raider team. He earned AFL All-Star honors for five straight years beginning in 1963, and was on the 1967 AFL Champion team that competed in Super Bowl II against the Green Bay Packers. He is a member of the American Football League Hall of Fame.

While playing on the 1967 AFL Champion team that competed in Super Bowl II, he played against Jerry Kramer of the Green Bay Packers. Hawkins and Kramer are both from Jordan, Montana and had the same doctor, while their mothers shared a friendship.

In the mid 1980s, Hawkins worked with fellow Oakland alumnae Bob Svihus and Dave Dalby to write the book, Raider: How Offensive Can You Be? A 25-year History of the Oakland Raiders, published by Peninsula Publishing in Monterey, California.

Currently in the real estate investment business, Hawkins is an avid golfer who supports Caring for Kids, an organization which benefits the Monterey Bay Boys & Girls Clubs and the Children's Miracle Network. Each year, a group of retired professional football players, including many greats from the Pro Football Hall of Fame, compete in the Legends Golf Tournament held annually at The Spanish Bay Inn, Pebble Beach, and Spyglass Hill golf.

[ Source: Wikipedia ]