Oakland Raiders Forgotten Heroes of the Silver and Black: Frank Hawkins

August 1, 2010   ·   David cotignola   ·   Jump to comments

 
You never expect much out of a player drafted in the tenth round, but the Raiders found a true gem when they took running back Frank Hawkins with the 256th overall pick back in 1981.  
Playing at the University of Nevada, "the Hawk" amassed 5,333 yards in his four years there.  After his career ended with the Wolfpack, his jersey was retired and he was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1997.
Oakland's 1981 draft was largely forgettable, aside from taking Hall of Famer Howie Long. Oakland even took another back, Auburn's Chester Willis, the round after Hawkins.  
During his rookie year, Hawkins ran second fiddle to Kenny King. Even though he was splitting leftover carries with the rookie Willis, as well as Mark Van Eeghan, who led the team in rushing the year before.   Hawkins ended up as the team's second leading rusher, though with only 145 yards on 40 carries, he hardly got the chance to get...

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