Jaylinn Hawkins (born August 25, 1997) is 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 with ...

safety Safety is the state of being "safe", the condition of being protected from harm or other danger. Safety can also refer to risk management, the control of recognized hazards in order to achieve an acceptable level of risk. Meanings There are ...

for the

Atlanta Falcons The Atlanta Falcons are a professional American football team based in Atlanta. The Falcons compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. The Falcons joined th ...

of 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). 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 ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

College career

Hawkins attended

Buena Park High School Buena Park High School (BPHS) is a public high school located at 8833 Academy Drive in Buena Park, Orange County, California, USA. History Buena Park High School opened its doors with 508 students on September 11, 1956, as the third school in t ...

, where he was a four star recruit, and graduated in 2015. He played college football at

and

redshirted Redshirt, in United States college athletics, is a delay or suspension of an athlete's participation in order to lengthen their period of eligibility. Typically, a student's athletic eligibility in a given sport is four seasons, aligning with the ...

his

first year A freshman, fresher, first year, or frosh, is a person in the first year at an educational institution, usually a secondary school or at the college and university level, but also in other forms of post-secondary educational institutions. Ara ...

. In the 2016 season, Hawkins played snaps in all 12 games and started three games at safety. He was also recognized as a scholar-athlete of the week. His uncle, Jeremiah Hawkins, joined the Bears as a freshman wide receiver this season. In

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a ser ...

, Hawkins started 11 of the team's 12 games and played snaps in all 12. In

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...

, Hawkins started 12 of the team's 13 games and played snaps in all 13. He led the

Pac-12 The Pac-12 Conference is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference, that operates in the Western United States, participating in 24 sports at the NCAA Division I level. Its College football, football teams compete in the NCAA D ...

with 6 interceptions. When targeted, he held the lowest passer rating (1.7) amongst Pac-12 safeties. At the

2018 Cheez-It Bowl The 2018 Cheez-It Bowl was a college football bowl game played on December 26, 2018 at Chase Field in Phoenix, Arizona. It was one of the 2018–19 bowl games concluding the 2018 FBS football season. It was the 30th edition of a bowl game tha ...

, Hawkins had three interceptions, the most in any bowl game that year. Hawkins was named Defensive MVP of the game despite Cal's loss to TCU. Prior to the 2019 season, Hawkins was named a preseason 2nd team All-Pac-12 player. He started and played in all 13 games. During a game against

Stanford Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is considere ...

, Hawkins made a one-handed interception that made the

SportsCenter ''SportsCenter'' (SC) is a daily sports news television show, television program that serves as the flagship program and brand of United States, American cable television, cable and satellite television television network, network ESPN. The show ...

Top 10. In his overall college career, Jaylinn Hawkins recorded 156 tackles, 9.5 tackles for a loss, 10 interceptions and three forced fumbles and returned nine kicks for 129 yards. He graduated with a degree in

American studies American studies or American civilization is an interdisciplinary field of scholarship that examines American literature, history, society, and culture. It traditionally incorporates literary criticism, historiography and critical theory. Sch ...

Professional career

Hawkins was selected in the fourth round of the

2020 NFL Draft The 2020 NFL Draft was the 85th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible players for the 2020 NFL season. The first round was held on April 23, followed by the second and third rounds on April 24. The d ...

with the 134th overall pick by the

. His collegiate partner at safety,

Ashtyn Davis Ashtyn Davis (born October 10, 1996) is an American football safety for the New York Jets of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at California, where he was also a hurdler, and was drafted by the Jets in the third roun ...

, was taken in the third round of the

2020 NFL draft The 2020 NFL Draft was the 85th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible players for the 2020 NFL season. The first round was held on April 23, followed by the second and third rounds on April 24. The d ...

with the 68th overall pick by the

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

. Hawkins was placed on the reserve/

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...

list by the Falcons on July 28, 2020, and was activated eight days later. Hawkins scored his first professional touchdown in Week 6 of the

2022 NFL season The 2022 NFL season is the 103rd season of the National Football League (NFL). The season began on September 8, 2022, with the defending Super Bowl LVI champion Los Angeles Rams falling to Buffalo in the NFL Kickoff Game, and will end on Ja ...

against the

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 ...

when he recovered a fumble in the end zone. He also recorded an interception in the same game.

References

External links

Atlanta Falcons bioCalifornia Golden Bears bio
1997 births Living people People from Buena Park, California Players of American football from Orange County, California American football safeties California Golden Bears football players Atlanta Falcons players {{defensiveback-1990s-stub