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The New England Patriots have had a lot of drama going on lately, what with the Lamar Jackson rumors, Mac Jones tension and possible feud between Bill Belichick and Robert Kraft.
The team took a lighter moment on Tuesday, April 4, to celebrate the 72nd birthday of franchise legend John Hannah, who also happens to be the answer to a pretty good trivia question. Who was the first Patriots player elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame? The answer, perhaps to many New Englanders’ surprise, is Hannah.
From Canton to Canton
It was only fitting that Hannah, who was born in Canton, Georgia on April 4, 1951, would someday end up in Canton, Ohio, where the Pro Football Hall of Fame is located.
Football was in Hannah’s DNA. He was the son of NFL player Herb Hannah, who starred as an offensive lineman at the University of Alabama and spent the 1951 season with the New York Giants. John followed in his father’s footsteps, playing for the Crimson Tide as well before making it to the NFL as an offensive lineman.
The younger Hannah excelled at ‘Bama under legendary coach Bear Bryant from 1970 to 1972. He helped the team win the SEC and was an All-American twice, later being named to Alabama’s 1970s All-Decade team as well as the school’s All-Century team.
John Hannah Transformed Patriots During Career
Despite being slightly undersized for a lineman at 6-foot-2 and 265 pounds, Hannah was taken by the Patriots with the fourth overall pick in the 1973 draft. It turned out to be a great selection on their part, as Hannah went on to forge a Hall of Fame career in New England.
The Patriots were not very good when Hannah arrived, coming off a 3-11 season where they were outscored by a whopping 254 points. They quickly began to turn things around with Hannah anchoring their offensive line at guard, improving to 5-9 during his rookie season and 7-7 in his sophomore campaign. By 1976, they were a playoff team, the first of four times they reached the postseason during Hannah’s 13-year career.
What Hannah lacked in size, he made up for in speed and quickness, thanks to his powerful legs — “incredibly massive chunks of concrete,” Sports Illustrated’s Paul Zimmerman wrote in 1981. Those abilities helped him thrive at pass protection and run blocking as well as on sweep plays where the guard gets pulled. Hannah was also remarkably durable, missing just five games due to injuries during his career.
Hannah’s work ethic and commitment to the game rubbed off on his teammates.
According to a 1986 story in The Washington Post, “Hannah still refuses to compromise what most of his teammates see as an almost unrealistic work ethic.”
Guy Morriss, the center on the 1985 team that went to the Super Bowl, told the Post’s John Ed Bradley, “It’s hard for him to understand that not everybody demands so much from life as Mr. John Hannah. He thinks everybody should walk around gritting their teeth and snorting fire like he does.”
He was rewarded with numerous awards and accolades during his playing days, including 7 First-Team All-Pro selections, 3 Second-Team All-Pro nods and 9 Pro Bowl selections.
During his final season in 1985, Hannah helped lead the Patriots to their first Super Bowl appearance in franchise history. Even in his 13th season, Hannah was still a key member of the team that year, earning his final First-Team All-Pro and Pro Bowl honors.The Patriots would lose to the Chicago Bears in the Super Bowl.
Regarded as one of the greatest offensive linemen of all time, Hannah was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1991. That same year, he became the first member of the Patriots Hall of Fame.
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