Duane Hawthorne (born August 26, 1976) is a former

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 with ...

cornerback A cornerback (CB) is a member of the defensive backfield or secondary in gridiron football. Cornerbacks cover receivers most of the time, but also blitz and defend against such offensive running plays as sweeps and reverses. They create tur ...

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 ...

(NFL) 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 club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East divisi ...

and

San Francisco 49ers The San Francisco 49ers (also written as the San Francisco Forty-Niners) are a professional American football team based in the San Francisco Bay Area. The 49ers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National ...

. He also was a member of the

Scottish Claymores The Scottish Claymores were an American football team based in Scotland. The franchise played in the World League of American Football (later renamed NFL Europe) between 1995 and 2004, initially playing all home games at Murrayfield Stadium, E ...

NFL Europe NFL Europe League (simply called NFL Europe and known in its final season as NFL Europa League) was a professional American football league that functioned as the developmental minor league of the National Football League (NFL). Originally f ...

. He played

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

Northern Illinois University Northern Illinois University (NIU) is a public research university in DeKalb, Illinois. It was founded as Northern Illinois State Normal School on May 22, 1895, by Illinois Governor John P. Altgeld as part of an expansion of the state's system ...

Early years

Hawthorne attended

Ladue Horton Watkins High School Ladue Horton Watkins High School is a public high school in Ladue, Missouri, United States, that is administered by the Ladue School District. Its namesake, Horton Watkins, was vice president of the International Shoe Company and died in 1949. The ...

, where he was a two-way player. As a senior

quarterback The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Ame ...

, he passed for 811 yards and 6

touchdown A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchdown by advancing the ball into the opponent's end zone. In Ameri ...

s, while rushing for 748 yards and 6

s. He had 102 tackles, 5 interceptions and 7 passes defensed as a

. He received All-Suburban East Conference, All-district and All-metro honors. He also practiced

track Track or Tracks may refer to: Routes or imprints * Ancient trackway, any track or trail whose origin is lost in antiquity * Animal track, imprints left on surfaces that an animal walks across * Desire path, a line worn by people taking the shorte ...

and

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

, winning the conference's

400 metres The 400 metres, or 400-meter dash, is a sprint event in track and field competitions. It has been featured in the athletics (sport), athletics programme at the Summer Olympics since 1896 for men and since 1964 for women. On a standard outdoor runn ...

competition.

College career

Hawthorne accepted a football scholarship from

. As a freshman, he was a backup cornerback, tallying 16 tackles. He had 8 tackles, one pas defensed, one forced fumble in only eight snaps against the third ranked

University of Florida The University of Florida (Florida or UF) is a public land-grant research university in Gainesville, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida, traces its origins to 1853, and has operated continuously on its ...

. He was named a starter mid-way through his sophomore season, registering 40 tackles, one tackle for loss, 2 interceptions (second on the team) and 7 passes defensed. He had 2 tackles and 2 interceptions against

Arkansas State University Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the South Central United States. It is bordered by Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, and Texas and Oklahoma to the west. Its name is from the Osage la ...

. As a junior, he posted 45 tackles, 3 interceptions and 5 passes defensed. He had 5 tackles and 2 interceptions against

North Carolina State University North Carolina State University (NC State) is a public land-grant research university in Raleigh, North Carolina. Founded in 1887 and part of the University of North Carolina system, it is the largest university in the Carolinas. The universit ...

. As a senior, he recorded 62 tackles (fifth on the team), 4 tackles for loss, 4 interceptions, 10 passes defensed, 2 forced fumbles and 2 fumble recoveries. He finished his college career with 30 starts, 166 tackles, 9 interceptions and 22 passes defensed.

Professional career

Dallas Cowboys

Hawthorne was signed as an

undrafted free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player 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 contract at present but who is a ...

by the

after the

1999 NFL Draft The 1999 NFL draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The draft was held April 17–18, 1999, at the Theater at M ...

on April 23. He surprised observers by making the team, taking advantage of opportunities created by injuries to

Kevin Smith Kevin Patrick Smith (born August 2, 1970) is an American filmmaker, actor, comedian, comic book writer, author, YouTuber, and podcaster. He came to prominence with the low-budget comedy buddy film ''Clerks'' (1994), which he wrote, directed, co ...

and

Deion Sanders Deion Luwynn Sanders Sr. (born August 9, 1967) is an American football coach and former player who is the head coach at the University of Colorado Boulder. Nicknamed "Prime Time", he played in the National Football League (NFL) for 14 seasons ...

. He collected 27 tackles, 3 interceptions (second on the team), 7 passes defensed and 7

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 ...

tackles, while playing in nickel and dime packages. His 3 interceptions were the most by a Cowboys rookie since

1981 Events January * January 1 ** Greece enters the European Economic Community, predecessor of the European Union. ** Palau becomes a self-governing territory. * January 10 – Salvadoran Civil War: The FMLN launches its first major offensiv ...

. In 2000 season, he was allocated to the

. He had a strong showing there, including being named

co-defensive MVP, All-NFL Europe, helped his team reach

World Bowl 2000 World Bowl 2000 (also referred to as World Bowl VIII) was the eighth championship game of the NFL Europe League. It was held at Waldstadion in Frankfurt, Germany on June 25, 2000. The match-up was between the 6–4 Scottish Claymores and the 7–3 ...

, while making 38 tackles, 18 passes defensed and tying for the league lead with 4

interception In ball-playing competitive team sports, an interception or pick is a move by a player involving a pass of the ball—whether by foot or hand, depending on the rules of the sport—in which the ball is intended for a player of the same team b ...

s. When he returned to the Cowboys, he was worn down from all of his previous

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

activity and wasn't as effective, finishing with only one tackle, 2 passes defensed, one forced fumble and 6

tackles. In

2001 The September 11 attacks against the United States by Al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror, were a defining event of 2001. The United States led a Participants in ...

, he was named the starter at left cornerback over

Izell Reese Izell Reese (born May 7, 1974) is a former professional American football safety in the National Football League (NFL) for the Dallas Cowboys, Buffalo Bills, and Denver Broncos. He played college football at the University of Alabama at Birming ...

in the seventh game of the season against the

Arizona Cardinals The Arizona Cardinals are a professional American football team based in the Phoenix metropolitan area. The Cardinals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) West division, and play t ...

. He recorded 72 tackles (sixth on the team), 54 solo tackles (fourth on the team), 2 interceptions, 9 passes defensed and 3

tackles. In

2002 File:2002 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 2002 Winter Olympics are held in Salt Lake City; Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and her daughter Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon die; East Timor gains East Timor independence, indepe ...

, he started 5 games, but hamstring and knee injuries opened the door for rookie Derek Ross to replace him. He registered 5 starts in 10 games, 25 tackles, one interception and 4 passes defensed, before being waived on December 8,

San Francisco 49ers

On December 11,

, he was signed by the

as insurance for depth purposes. He didn't play until being forced into action during the playoff loss against the

Tampa Bay Buccaneers The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are a professional American football team based in Tampa, Florida. The Buccaneers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South divisio ...

Personal life

Hawthorne was a football coach at University City High School and at

Hazelwood West High School Hazelwood West High School is a public high school in the Hazelwood School District located in North St. Louis County, Missouri, United States. History Hazelwood West High School began in 1974, with the first graduating class in 1975. Due to ov ...

in St. Louis, Missouri. He is now an elementary physical education teacher and is loved by all.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hawthorne, Duane 1976 births Living people American football cornerbacks Dallas Cowboys players San Francisco 49ers players Scottish Claymores players Northern Illinois Huskies football players High school football coaches in Missouri Ladue Horton Watkins High School alumni Players of American football from St. Louis