Will Hastings (born July 30, 1996) 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 ...

wide receiver who is a

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 ...

. 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 ...

Auburn Auburn may refer to: Places Australia * Auburn, New South Wales * City of Auburn, the local government area *Electoral district of Auburn *Auburn, Queensland, a locality in the Western Downs Region *Auburn, South Australia *Auburn, Tasmania *Aub ...

Early life and Auburn

Hastings was born and raised in

Little Rock, Arkansas (The Little Rock, The "Little Rock") , government_type = council-manager government, Council-manager , leader_title = List of mayors of Little Rock, Arkansas, Mayor , leader_name = Frank Scott Jr. , leader_ ...

where he graduated from

Pulaski Academy Pulaski Academy (PA) is a private, independent college preparatory preschool, elementary, and junior/senior high school headed by Brock Dunn in the Pleasant Valley neighborhood of Little Rock, Arkansas, United States. PA was established in 197 ...

. He played high school football, and during his time the school won two state titles and in his senior year in 2015 he racked up 2,040 receiving yards. Hastings was only the 2nd receiver in Arkansas football history to gain over 2000 yards in a single season. At Pulaski Academy Hastings also played soccer and was an all state selection 2 years in a row. In his early teens he played elite soccer traveling over a 3 state area and was the only U-14 player chosen out of the state of Arkansas for the Region 3 Olympic Development Team. He participated in the National Olympic Development Team Tryouts in Orlando Florida. Hastings walked on at Auburn as a kicker, specializing in onside kicks, but in 2017 he was moved to wide receiver. At Auburn Hastings was teammates with quarterback

Jarrett Stidham Jarrett Ryan Stidham (born August 8, 1996) is an American football quarterback for the Las Vegas Raiders of the National Football League (NFL). After transferring from Baylor, he played college football at Auburn and was selected by the New Engl ...

. Auburn head coach

Gus Malzahn Arthur Gustavo Malzahn III (; born October 28, 1965) is an American football coach. He is currently the head coach at the University of Central Florida (UCF Knights football, UCF). He was the head football coach at Auburn University from 2013 t ...

said of Hastings: "He's one of the quickest guys I've ever coached. I think he can get open versus any man. I think he's in a good spot. I think he'll have a chance to play at the next level. I couldn't be more proud." In the 2017 season, Hastings had 26 receptions, 525 yards and four touchdowns, but he missed the 2018 season due to a torn ACL, and in 2019 he had 19 catches for 222 yards and one touchdown.

Professional career

Hastings was one of four

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 ...

receivers signed by 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 ...

after they did not draft any receivers in 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 ...

. His three-year contract included $57,500 in guaranteed money. On July 26, 2020, Hastings was released before training camp opened, but was re-signed two days later. Hastings was once again waived on August 28, 2020.

Personal life

In 2019, Hastings got engaged to his college girlfriend.

References

External links

Auburn Tigers bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hastings, Will 1996 births Living people American football wide receivers Auburn Tigers football players New England Patriots players Players of American football from Little Rock, Arkansas