Anthony Hitchens

He was ranked the 31st best outside linebacker prospect in the draft by DraftScout.com.

Anthony Hitchens (born June 10, 1992) is a former American football linebacker.

He tied for 12th among his position group in the 40-yard dash, tied for ninth among linebackers in the bench press, and finished 17th in the three-cone drill.

He was selected by the Dallas Cowboys in the fourth round of the 2014 NFL draft.

He played college football at the University of Iowa.

Hitchens was raised by his mother, Norma Hitchens, in Lorain, Ohio, where he attended Clearview High School.

He has six siblings and does not have a relationship with his father who was in and out of prison.

At the age of 12, Hitchens asked his mother if he could move in with his best friend, Zach Anderson, and his family in Sheffield Township.

His mother gave him her permission and he immediately moved into Brad and Amy Anderson's home.

Brad attended high school with Norma and Amy worked at a nonprofit organization in the community with her.

Anthony played football with their oldest son Zach and would stay overnight and always eat dinner with them.

Amy Anderson said there was no discussion about letting him move in because they both cared for him.

With two sons of their own and another friend, James Washington, living there, the Andersons added an additional room so the boys would no longer would have to share one room among the four of them.

In high school, Hitchens was a three-sport athlete, playing football, basketball, and track.

On the football field he was also known for being an explosive running back.

He is the school's all-time rushing leader with 3,864 yards, and the single game leader with 354 yards.

Hitchens was labeled a two-star recruit by Rivals.com.

He had offers from the University of Kansas, Indiana University, University of Akron, and Eastern Michigan, before deciding to continue his career at the University of Iowa.

At Iowa, Hitchens was a four-year letter winner.

In his first two years, he stayed mainly on special teams, before starting at linebacker as a junior and senior.

In his career at Iowa he racked up 270 total tackles, including 124 as a junior which led the Big Ten Conference.

Hitchens was one of 35 linebackers to perform at the NFL combine in Indianapolis.

Although he performed all of the combine drills, his day was considered mediocre.

On March 24, 2014, Hitchens opted to participate at Iowa's pro day, along with C. J. Fiedorowicz, Christian Kirksey, James Morris, and nine other prospects.

He improved upon his 40-yard dash (4.65), 20-yard dash (2.72), and ran positional drills for the scouts and team representatives from 28 NFL teams.

At the conclusion of the pre-draft process, Hitchens was projected to be a seventh round pick or priority undrafted free agent by the majority of NFL draft experts and scouts.

The Dallas Cowboys selected Hitchens in the fourth round with the 119th overall pick the 2014 NFL draft.

The Cowboys were heavily criticized regarding his selection, due to many evaluators projecting him to be a seventh round pick or go undrafted.

Cowboys' owner Jerry Jones explained that they chose him to provide depth behind Sean Lee after experiencing the loss of Lee the year prior.

Jones also stated they planned on selecting Hitchens in the fourth round ahead of time and his speed, athleticism, and tackling ability were key factors.

On June 1, 2014, the Cowboys signed Hitchens to a four-year, $2.65 million contract that includes a signing bonus of $434,864.

When Lee was lost for the season during organized team activities, and the team traded for Rolando McClain, it was decided to make Hitchens learn all three linebacker positions.

He began organized team activities taking reps with the first-team defense, but was soon moved to the backup middle linebacker after Justin Durant returned from a hamstring injury.

He spent the bulk of training camp at outside linebacker, competing with Justin Durant and Kyle Wilber, before being moved back to middle linebacker.

The Dallas Cowboys opted to trade for McClain and have Hitchens compete with him in training camp.

Head coach Jason Garrett named Hitchens the back up middle linebacker to McClain to begin the 2014 season.

He made his professional regular season debut in the Cowboys' season-opener against the San Francisco 49ers and assisted on one tackle in the 28–17 loss.

He made his first career tackle in the closing seconds of the game, helping safety Barry Church tackle 49ers' running back Frank Gore who gained five-yards on a short run to seal the win for the 49ers.

The following week, Hitchens earned his first career start at weakside linebacker and recorded two combined tackles during a 26–10 victory at the Tennessee Titans.

He started in place of Justin Durant, who suffered a groin injury in the season-opener against the 49ers.