While much of the focus this offseason tends to be focused on players leaving for the NFL or entering the transfer portal, there are other players who are making some big decisions regarding their football future that don’t fit under those categories. And in the case of defensive tackle Aeneas Hawkins, that decision was retiring from football.
Hawkins announced his retirement from playing football with a message posted to his Twitter account on Wednesday.
“After 4 years and many conversations with those closest to me, I’ve made the decision to end my football career,” Hawkins said in his statement. “Although much of my time in college was spent battling injury, my experience as a Penn State student-athlete was better than I could have ever imagined.”
Hawkins was a four-star member of Penn State’s Class of 2018 but only appeared in one game in the 2019 and in the 2020 seasons. He spent most of his time at Penn State as a developmental player helping the team in practices, earning high accolades within the program in doing so.
What’s next for Hawkins away from football? We will see down the line, although Hawkins does appear to be heading into some form of broadcast journalism.
“Although this door has closed, I look forward to what the Lord has next,” Hawkins said in his statement. “I will graduate in the summer with a degree in broadcast journalism. Excited for the next chapter.”
The loss of Hawkins is a ding t the defensive line depth for the Nittany Lions, although it is far down the list of offseason concerns for new defensive coordinator Manny Diaz. It is a shame Hawkins wasn’t able to flourish with a healthy career at Penn State, especially given his NFL lineage.
Thank you. 🙏🏿 pic.twitter.com/q8eC0AZHM9
— Aeneas Hawkins (@AeneasHawkins) January 5, 2022
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