Aaron James Hawk (born January 6, 1984) is an American sports analyst and former American football linebacker who played 11 seasons in the National Football League (NFL). He was drafted by the Green Bay Packers fifth overall in the 2006 NFL Draft and he would later win Super Bowl XLV with the team over the Pittsburgh Steelers. He was also a member of the Cincinnati Bengals and Atlanta Falcons. He played college football at Ohio State, where he earned All-American honors twice and won the Lombardi Award as a senior. He won the BCS National Championship with the Buckeyes as a freshman.
Hawk was born in Kettering, Ohio, and grew up in Centerville, both suburbs of Dayton. He attended Centerville High School, where he was a teammate of former Cincinnati Bengals kicker Mike Nugent on the football team. As a freshman at Centerville High School, Hawk made the varsity football team. He holds multiple defensive records and was one of three active NFL players who played for the Centerville Elks high school football team. Hawk's records include most tackles in a game (31) on three occasions. He also has the most career tackles (583). Hawk was a two-time All-State player in high school (1999 and 2000).
Hawk enrolled in the Ohio State University, and played for coach Jim Tressel's Ohio State Buckeyes football team from 2002 to 2005. Ohio State won the 2002 BCS National Championship with Hawk as a freshman. During his four-year Buckeye career, he played in 51 games, starting 38 of them. He had 394 tackles with 196 of them solo, 41 of them for losses, 15 and a half sacks, seven interceptions, and 13 passes broken up. He also had two fumble recoveries, three forced fumbles, and two touchdowns, one on a blocked punt and one on an interception. His performances earned him first-team All-Big Ten honors in all three years he started and the Most Valuable Player award for the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl. Following his senior season of 2005, he won the Lombardi Award as the best college football linebacker, and was recognized as a unanimous first-team All-American.

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