Johnathan Hankins had quite the career, even if he is never going to have a chance at the Pro Football Hall of Fame. He was a grinder who played 12 years in the league, and his final season was his only one with the Seattle Seahawks. He played his last game in 2024, though Seattle paid him into 2025, and Hankins has retired.
He knew his job, and that was to stop the run. If he got pressure on opposing quarterbacks, fine, but that was a plus and not a requirement. He played with five different teams and in 169 games in his career and started many of them, but solely because the early downs of games are rushing downs, and that was where Hankins was at his best.
He was expected to be a starter when he was chosen by the New York Giants in the second round of the 2013 NFL Draft. As a rookie, he didn't play much, but by year two, he was a full-time starter, and he would remain that way, when healthy, through 2021. Even in 2024 with Seattle, he started eight games and even accidentally had an interception.
Former Seattle Seahawks defensive tackle Johnathan Hankins retires
Hankins wasn't the kind of guy who was going to greatly elevate a defense overall, but he was the kind of player that every defense needs. The defensive tackle was the glue guy who rotated in to stuff the run and rotated out if he was going to have to run down a quarterback.
Now 34 years old, and while old by professional football standards, he is still a relatively young man; he should retire with enough money to live well. He earned $34 million over the course of his career simply by going about his business the way most of us do.
He went to work, understood his role, didn't complain to get more attention, and punched out and went home. Sure, he made more money than most of us will ever see, but his approach was the same. He wasn't the boss, and he wasn't the star, but he was valuable.
The ironic part was that he was a much better pass-rusher over the back half of his time in the league. He didn't produce high-level statistics, though. He had seven sacks in his second season, which would be more than a third of his career total. He had one with the Seahawks in 2024.
Between 2013 and 2020, however, he was one of the better run-stuffing defensive tackles in the league, and that is how he will be remembered. Now, he is free to do what he wants, and hopefully with enough money to accomplish that.
Add us as a preferred source on Google