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), 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 ...

tight end The tight end (TE) is a position in American football, arena football, and Canadian football, on the offense. The tight end is often a hybrid position with the characteristics and roles of both an offensive lineman and a wide receiver. Like ...

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 ...

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 ...

. 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 (2009–2012), United Football League (UFL) in the 2011 UFL season, 2011 season. They played their ...

in the United Football League. He played

college basketball In United States colleges, top-tier basketball is governed by collegiate athletic bodies including National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), the United States Collegiate Athleti ...

and

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 ...

at the

University of Houston The University of Houston (UH) is a Public university, public research university in Houston, Texas. Founded in 1927, UH is a member of the University of Houston System and the List of universities in Texas by enrollment, university in Texas ...

Early years

Hannah born to Rodney Sr. and Donna Hannah in Fresno, California. At a young age Hannah and his family moved to over 7 different locations throughout the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

before the age of 14, due to his father's professional career. Growing up Hannah was highly active, initially going into

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

. He eventually became a young sponsored

athlete An athlete (also sportsman or sportswoman) is a person who competes in one or more sports that involve physical strength, speed, or endurance. Athletes may be professionals or amateurs. Most professional athletes have particularly well-devel ...

in the realm of

skateboarding Skateboarding is an extreme sport, action sport originating in the United States that involves riding and performing tricks using a skateboard, as well as a recreational activity, an art form, an entertainment industry Profession, job, and a ...

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 and in high school. Upon moving to Roseville

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 ...

Hannah traded in his

skateboard A skateboard is a type of sports equipment used for skateboarding. They are usually made of a specially designed 7-8 ply maple plywood deck and polyurethane wheels attached to the underside by a pair of skateboarding trucks. The skateboarde ...

for a backboard, picking up basketball while attending Roseville High School (CA) 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 Junior College 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 realized he missed football and was a part 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. 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 ...

. After the season, Hannah was told that

NFL 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 major ...

scouts were interested in his physical skills.

Professional career

Dallas Cowboys

Hannah was not selected in the 2007 NFL Draft, 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 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 ...

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

practice squad In sports, 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. Frequently used in gridiron football, they serve as extra players during the team's practices, ...

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

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

, 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 Isaiah Ramon Stanback (born August 16, 1984) is a former American football wide receiver in the National Football League (NFL) for the Dallas Cowboys, New England Patriots, New York Giants, and Jacksonville Jaguars. He played college football at ...

. In

2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...

, 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 Sportspeople from Roseville, California Players of American football from California American football tight ends Houston Cougars men's basketball players Houston Cougars football players Dallas Cowboys players Virginia Destroyers players American men's basketball players