Jerald Hawkins (born October 16, 1993) 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 ...

offensive tackle Offensive may refer to: * Offensive, the former name of the Dutch political party Socialist Alternative * Offensive (military), an attack * Offensive language ** Fighting words or insulting language, words that by their very utterance inflict inj ...

who is currently a member of the

Saskatchewan Roughriders The Saskatchewan Roughriders are a professional Canadian football team based in Regina, Saskatchewan. The Roughriders compete in the Canadian Football League (CFL) as a member club of the league's West Division. The Roughriders were founded in 1 ...

of the

Canadian Football League The Canadian Football League (CFL; french: Ligue canadienne de football—LCF) is a professional sports league in Canada. The CFL is the highest level of competition in Canadian football. The league consists of nine teams, each located in a ci ...

(CFL). 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 ...

Louisiana State University Louisiana State University (officially Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as LSU) is a public land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The university was founded in 1860 nea ...

. He was drafted by the Steelers in the fourth round of the

2016 NFL Draft The 2016 NFL Draft was the 81st annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible American football players. As in 2015, the draft took place at the Auditorium Theatre and Grant Park in Chicago. The draft beg ...

. He has also played for 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 ...

and

Houston Texans The Houston Texans are a professional American football team based in Houston. The Texans compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division, and play their home ga ...

, and has been a member of the

New England Patriots The New England Patriots are a professional American football team based in the Greater Boston area. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East divisio ...

and

New Orleans Saints The New Orleans Saints are a professional American football team based in New Orleans. The Saints compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. Since 1975, the te ...

Early years

Hawkins attended West St. Mary High School in

Baldwin, Louisiana Baldwin is a town in St. Mary Parish, Louisiana, St. Mary Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 2,436 at the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census, down from 2,497 in 2000 United States Census, 2000. It is part of the Morgan City, ...

. He played both offensive and

defensive tackle A defensive tackle (DT) is a position in American football that will typically line up on the line of scrimmage, opposite one of the offensive guards, however he may also line up opposite one of the tackles. Defensive tackles are typically the la ...

. He committed to

(LSU) to play college football.

College career

Hawkins was a three-year starter at offensive tackle for LSU from 2013 to 2015. He started at right tackle his first two years before switching to left for his junior year. After his junior year he entered the

Professional career

Entering the

, Hawkins was projected by the majority of NFL analysts and scouts to be a second or third round pick. He received the invitation to the

NFL Combine The NFL Scouting Combine is a week-long showcase occurring every February at Lucas Oil Stadium (and formerly at the RCA Dome until 2008) in Indianapolis, where college football players perform physical and mental tests in front of National Footba ...

and completed all the required combine drills and positional drills. On March 14, 2016, he participated at LSU's pro day and chose to only perform the three-cone drill and positional drills for team representatives and scouts. He was ranked the ninth best offensive tackle prospect available in the draft by NFLDraftScout.com.

Pittsburgh Steelers

Hawkins was drafted by the

Pittsburgh Steelers The Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional American football team based in Pittsburgh. The Steelers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) North division. Founded in , the Steel ...

in the fourth round (123rd overall) of the

. On June 2, 2016, Hawkins signed a four-year, $2.87 million contract with a signing bonus of $530,488. On August 28, 2016, he was placed on injured reserve by the Steelers after suffering a shoulder injury during a joint practice with the

Detroit Lions The Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit. The Lions compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) North Division. The team play their home games at Ford ...

. He entered training camp in competing for a backup offensive tackle position with

Matt Feiler Matt Feiler (born July 7, 1992) is an American football guard for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Bloomsburg (PA). College career Feiler played college football at Bloomsburg Unive ...

, Chris Hubbard, and Keavon Milton. Hawkins was named the backup left tackle behind

Alejandro Villanueva Carlos Alejandro Villanueva Martínez (4 June 1908 – 11 April 1944) was a Peruvian association football, footballer who played for Alianza Lima and the Peru national football team. He is considered one of the most important Alianza strikers i ...

to begin the regular season. On November 26, 2017, Hawkins made his professional debut against the

Green Bay Packers The Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. It ...

. On May 30, 2018, Hawkins suffered a torn

quad Quad as a word or prefix usually means 'four'. It may refer to: Government * Quadrilateral Security Dialogue, a strategic security dialogue between Australia, India, Japan, and the United States * Quadrilateral group, an informal group which inc ...

during organized team activities. He was officially placed on injured reserve on June 5, 2018, ruling him out for the 2018 season.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

On August 31, 2019, Hawkins was traded to the

along with the Steelers' seventh round pick in the

2021 NFL Draft The 2021 NFL Draft was the 86th National Football League Draft, the annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible players for the 2021 NFL season. The draft was held in Cleveland from April 29 to May 1, 2021 ...

in exchange for the Buccaneers' sixth round pick in the 2021 draft.

Houston Texans

On August 10, 2020, Hawkins was signed by the

. He was released on September 5, 2020, and signed to the practice squad the next day.

Pittsburgh Steelers (II)

On September 16, 2020, Hawkins was signed away from the Texans' practice squad by the Steelers after Pittsburgh's starting right tackle

Zach Banner Zachery Samuel Banner (born December 25, 1993), nicknamed "The Hulk", is an American football offensive tackle who is currently a free agent. At Lakes High School, he was a two-time All-American offensive lineman. He played tackle in college foo ...

suffered a season-ending ACL injury in Week 1. 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 Steelers on November 10, 2020, and activated on November 14. He was placed back on the COVID-19 list on November 27, and activated on December 7.

New England Patriots

On July 30, 2021, Hawkins signed with the

. He was released on August 16.

New Orleans Saints

On December 8, 2021, Hawkins was signed to the

practice squad. He signed a reserve/future contract with the Saints on January 11, 2022. He was placed on injured reserve on August 6, 2022. He was released on August 24.

Saskatchewan Roughriders

On December 8, 2022, Hawkins signed with the

of the

(CFL).

References

External links

LSU Tigers bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hawkins, Jerald 1993 births Living people Players of American football from Louisiana American football offensive tackles LSU Tigers football players Pittsburgh Steelers players People from Baldwin, Louisiana Tampa Bay Buccaneers players Houston Texans players New England Patriots players New Orleans Saints players