Rodney Dee Hannah II (born August 9, 1987) is a former

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

tight end The tight end (TE) is an offense (sports), offensive position in American football, arena football, and Canadian football. It is a hybrid that combines the characteristics and roles of both an offensive lineman and a receiver (football), receiv ...

in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

for 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 of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. T ...

. He also was a member of the

Virginia Destroyers The Virginia Destroyers were a professional American football team based in Virginia Beach, Virginia. They began play in the United Football League (UFL) in the 2011 season. They played their home games at the Virginia Beach Sportsplex. The t ...

in the United Football League. He played

college basketball College basketball is basketball that is played by teams of Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. In the Higher education in the United States, United States, colleges and universities are governed by collegiate athle ...

and

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

at the

University of Houston The University of Houston (; ) is a Public university, public research university in Houston, Texas, United States. It was established in 1927 as Houston Junior College, a coeducational institution and one of multiple junior colleges formed in ...

Early years

Hannah was born to Rodney Sr. and Donna Hannah in

Fresno, California Fresno (; ) is a city in the San Joaquin Valley of California, United States. It is the county seat of Fresno County, California, Fresno County and the largest city in the greater Central Valley (California), Central Valley region. It covers a ...

. Hannah and his family moved to over seven different locations throughout the United States before he was 14, due to his father's professional career. Hannah was initially interested in

extreme sports Action sports, adventure sports or extreme sports are activities perceived as involving a high degree of risk of injury or death. These activities often involve speed, height, a high level of physical exertion and highly specialized gear. Extre ...

. He became a sponsored athlete in the realm of

skateboarding Skateboarding is an extreme sport, action sport that involves riding and Skateboarding trick, performing tricks using a skateboard, as well as a recreational activity, an art form, an entertainment industry Profession, job, and a method of tr ...

and

inline skating Inline skating is a multi-disciplinary sport and can refer to a number of activities practiced using inline skates. Inline skates typically have two to five polyurethane wheels depending on the style of practice, arranged in a single line by a ...

at the age of 12. Upon moving to

Roseville, California Roseville is the most populous city in Placer County, California, located within the Sacramento metropolitan area. As of 2019, the United States Census Bureau, US Census Bureau estimated the city's population to be 141,500, making it the third-l ...

, Hannah traded in his skateboard for a backboard, picking up basketball while attending Roseville High School as a sophomore. He also intended to play football but his father would not allow it, restricting him from playing football and lifting weights – in concern for stunting his growth. He was finally allowed to play both sports as a senior, becoming one of the top ranked athletes in the country, playing forward in basketball and wide receiver in football. He averaged 13 points and 10 rebounds per game, while being named an All-Conference selection. He finished among the state's top 10 leaders in receiving yards, rebounding and shots blocked.

College career

Hannah enrolled

Yuba College Yuba College () is a public community college in Linda, Yuba County, California. It is part of the Yuba Community College District. The college district has an extension campus in Yuba City, California. Yuba College is one of two colleges in th ...

, where he focused on playing basketball. As a freshman, he averaged 9 rebounds and 2.5 blocks per game. As a sophomore, he was named an All- Bay Valley Conference selection, after averaging 13.9 points, 8.7 rebounds and 1.9 blocks per game, while helping his team achieve the best season in school history, when Yuba finished with a 24–7 overall record and advanced to the Elite Eight of the California Junior College Tournament. He transferred to the

on a basketball scholarship, appearing in 27 games, while averaging 1.9 points and 2.6 rebounds. As a senior in 2006, he was a member of the C-USA Championship football team as a backup

, registering 11 receptions for 101 yards and one

touchdown A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Scoring a touchdown grants the team that scored it 6 points. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchd ...

Professional career

Dallas Cowboys

Hannah was not selected in the

2007 NFL draft The 2007 NFL draft was the 72nd annual meeting of National Football League franchises to select newly eligible American football players. It took place at Radio City Music Hall in New York City, New York, on April 28 and April 29, 2007. The draf ...

, because he was seen as a raw prospect. On April 23, the

signed him as an

undrafted free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player or manager who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under a contract at present ...

, because they liked his physical skills and potential upside. On September 1, he was waived and signed to the

practice squad In gridiron football, the practice squad, also called the taxi squad or practice roster, is a group of players signed by a team but not part of their main roster. They serve as extra players during the team's practices, often as part of the scou ...

2 days later, where he spent the rest of the season. On August 30,

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

, he was cut and later signed to the

. On December 26, he was promoted to the active roster, to take the spot of injured wide receiver Isaiah Stanback. In

2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...

, he was competing for the third-string tight end job against rookie John Phillips, but was limited with a broken hand he suffered in OTAs and was released on August 27.

Virginia Destroyers (UFL)

On August 29, 2011, Hannah was signed by the

of the United Football League.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hannah, Rodney 1984 births Living people American men's basketball players American football tight ends Dallas Cowboys players Houston Cougars football players Houston Cougars men's basketball players Virginia Destroyers players Junior college men's basketball players in the United States Yuba College alumni Sportspeople from Roseville, California Players of American football from Fresno, California Players of American football from Placer County, California