Clifton Alexander Hawkins (July 2, 1937 – September 12, 2017) was an

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team wit ...

player who played professionally as a

running back A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive handoffs from the quarterback to rush the ball, to line up as a receiver to catch the ball, and block. The ...

in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ma ...

(NFL) for the

Baltimore Colts The Baltimore Colts were a professional American football team that played in Baltimore from its founding in 1953 to 1984. The team now plays in Indianapolis, as the Indianapolis Colts. The team was named for Baltimore's history of horse breed ...

and Atlanta Falcons. He excelled as a

special teams In American football, the specific role that a player takes on the field is referred to as their "position". Under the modern rules of American football, both teams are allowed 11 players on the field at one time and have "unlimited free substitu ...

player and was a co-captain with the Colts, the first special teams player with this distinction.

Early years

Born in

Welch, West Virginia Welch is a city located in McDowell County in the State of West Virginia, United States. The population was 3,590 at the 2020 census, however the 2021 census estimate put the population at 1,914, due to the McDowell Prison complex in the north ...

, Hawkins graduated from

South Charleston High School South Charleston High School is a public high school in West Virginia serving grades 9 through 12. It is located south of the Kanawha River, west of the city of Charleston, in the city of South Charleston's Spring Hill neighborhood. The school ...

in 1955.

College career

From Hawkins played college football at

South Carolina )'' Animis opibusque parati'' ( for, , Latin, Prepared in mind and resources, links=no) , anthem = "Carolina";" South Carolina On My Mind" , Former = Province of South Carolina , seat = Columbia , LargestCity = Charleston , LargestMetro = G ...

; he rushing for 1,491 yards and was voted the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) player of the year as a senior and was a third-team All-American.

NFL career

Hawkins was the thirteenth player selected in the second round of the

1959 NFL Draft The 1959 National Football League draft had its first four rounds held on December 1, 1958, and its final twenty-six rounds on January 21, 1959. Both sessions were held at the Warwick Hotel in Philadelphia. With the first overall pick in the d ...

, but was released in mid-September by first-year head coach

Vince Lombardi Vincent Thomas Lombardi (June 11, 1913 – September 3, 1970) was an American football coach and executive in the National Football League (NFL). Lombardi is considered by many to be the greatest coach in football history, and he is recognized a ...

of the The first four rounds of the draft were held in early December 1958, nearly two months before Lombardi was hired. Hawkins was picked up by

, and they repeated as NFL champions his rookie season, defeating the

New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East divisio ...

in the title game in Baltimore. In his final season in

1968 The year was highlighted by Protests of 1968, protests and other unrests that occurred worldwide. Events January–February * January 5 – "Prague Spring": Alexander Dubček is chosen as leader of the Communist Party of Czechos ...

, Hawkins was special-teams captain for the Colts in

Super Bowl III Super Bowl III was an American football game played on January 12, 1969 at the Orange Bowl in Miami, Florida. It was the third AFL–NFL Championship Game in professional American football, and the first to officially bear the trademark name " ...

, in which the heavily favored Colts were upset by

Joe Namath Joseph William Namath (; ; born May 31, 1943) is a former American football quarterback who played in the American Football League (AFL) and National Football League (NFL) for 13 seasons, primarily with the New York Jets. He played college fo ...

and the New York Jets on January 12, 1969. During the 1968 season, the Colts had a record of under head coach

Don Shula Donald Francis Shula (January 4, 1930 – May 4, 2020) was an American football defensive back and coach who served as a head coach in the National Football League (NFL) from 1963 to 1995. The head coach of the Miami Dolphins for most of his c ...

, although Hawkins' playing time was limited. During a nine-year NFL career, Hawkins rushed for 10 touchdowns and his 129 pass receptions included 12 touchdown passes. He also returned punts and kickoffs. Hawkins acquired the nickname "Captain Who" prior to a Baltimore Colts game with the

Chicago Bears The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago. The Bears compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) North division. The Bears have won nine ...

, when the team captains were being introduced to each other before the game. Bears' Hall of Fame linebacker

Dick Butkus Richard Marvin Butkus (born December 9, 1942) is an American former professional football player, sports commentator, and actor. He played football as a middle linebacker for the Chicago Bears of the National Football League (NFL) from 1965 to ...

responded to the official's reference to "Captain Hawkins" by blurting out "Captain Who?" In the 1970s, Hawkins worked as a

color commentator A color commentator or expert commentator is a sports commentator who assists the main (play-by-play) commentator, typically by filling in when play is not in progress. The phrase "colour commentator" is primarily used in Canadian English and th ...

for Falcons radio, and for

TVS TVS may refer to: Mathematics * Topological vector space Television * Television Sydney, TV channel in Sydney, Australia * Television South, ITV franchise holder in the South of England between 1982 and 1992 * TVS Television Network, US dis ...

' Thursday night World Football League (WFL) telecasts and CBS' NFL telecasts. In 1977, the

NFC Championship Game The NFC Championship Game is the annual championship game of the National Football Conference (NFC) and one of the two semi-final playoff games of the National Football League (NFL), the largest professional American football league in the world ...

between the

Minnesota Vikings The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) North division. Founded in 1960 as an expansio ...

and the

Dallas Cowboys The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football team based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The Cowboys compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East divis ...

was televised by CBS and covered by play-by-play announcer

Vin Scully Vincent Edward Scully (November 29, 1927 – August 2, 2022) was an American sportscaster. He was best known for his 67 seasons calling games for Major League Baseball's Los Angeles Dodgers, beginning in 1950 (when the franchise was located ...

with Hawkins as color commentator. Hawkins said that he hoped that the Cowboys would win, because "I've always been a Cowboy fan." At one point, 35-year-old Dallas quarterback

Roger Staubach Roger Thomas Staubach (, -; , -; born February 5, 1942), nicknamed "Roger the Dodger", "Captain America", and "Captain Comeback", is an American former professional football player who was a quarterback in the National Football League (NFL) for ...

was shown jogging onto the field, and Hawkins commented to Scully, "Roger runs like a sissy, doesn't he?" To which Scully responded, "Did you wear a helmet when you played?". Hawkins was arrested during a traffic stop a few days after the championship game, and later was fired by CBS.

Death

Hawkins died at HarborChase Assisted Living and Memory Care in

Columbia, South Carolina Columbia is the capital of the U.S. state of South Carolina. With a population of 136,632 at the 2020 census, it is the second-largest city in South Carolina. The city serves as the county seat of Richland County, and a portion of the ci ...

on September 12, 2017, at the age of 80.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hawkins, Alex 1937 births 2017 deaths American football running backs American sports announcers Atlanta Falcons announcers Atlanta Falcons players Baltimore Colts players South Carolina Gamecocks football players National Football League announcers World Football League announcers South Charleston High School alumni People from South Charleston, West Virginia People from Welch, West Virginia Players of American football from West Virginia