John Hannah

John Allen Hannah (born April 4, 1951), nicknamed "Hog", is an American former football guard who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 13 seasons with the New England Patriots.

He won an individual national championship in wrestling at the National Prep Championship in 1967.

His high school coach in football, wrestling and track was Luke Worsham, whom Hannah credited in his induction speech at the Pro Football Hall of Fame: "I want to talk to you about Major Luke Worsham who was my high school coach. He is the guy who really taught me and showed me what love was all about. Because he would shoulder my problems, he would always stand by me to offer me encouragement when things got tough and when things were going awry he would make sure he would correct me and get me right back on track."

Hannah played his senior season of high school football at Albertville High School, where he graduated in 1969.

Hannah played tackle and guard for the University of Alabama under Coach Paul "Bear" Bryant from 1970 until 1972, and earned All-American honors twice, in 1971 and then was a Consensus All-American his senior year in 1972.

During his tenure Hannah was part of an SEC championship-winning team.

He was named to the University of Alabama All-Century Team and also to the Alabama 1970s All-Decade team.

During his time at Alabama he also participated in wrestling, the shot put, and the discus throw.

Along with tackle Leon Gray, the two formed what was generally considered the best guard/tackle tandem in the NFL during the mid to late 1970s.

Gray and Hannah also combined with tight end Russ Francis to form one of the strongest left-side trios in the league.

He is also one of the few players to have been named to two different NFL All-Decade Teams (for the 1970s and 1980s).

He played college football at the University of Alabama, where he twice received All-American honors, and was selected fourth overall by the Patriots in the 1973 NFL draft.

Hannah joined the Patriots in 1973 as the 4th overall pick in the 1973 NFL draft.

He played his entire professional career in New England.

While considered somewhat short by NFL standards, Hannah made up for this with great speed and quickness as well as powerful legs.

Hannah excelled as a pass protector, as a run blocker, and as the pulling guard on sweeps.

Hannah's commitment to football was very high and he expected the same from each of his teammates, sometimes becoming quite angry if he felt they were not complying.

Hannah started the first 13 games of his rookie season of 1973 until a freak leg injury forced him to miss the final game of the year.

Hannah was named to ten consecutive All-Pro teams (1976–1985), and was named All-AFC 11 times (1974, 1976–1985).

He was also selected to play in 9 Pro Bowls.

He also missed the first three games of the 1977 season when he and Gray held out because of contract disputes.

Hannah was also the winner of the Mack Truck Award for offensive line play five consecutive times (1977–81).

Hannah anchored the 1978 offensive line that set an NFL record with 3,165 rushing yards.

The record breaking rushing attack of New England did not have a single 1,000 rusher, but did have four players run for more than 500 yards including quarterback Steve Grogan.

The team rushing record would eventually be broken by the Baltimore Ravens some four decades later, but the 1978 Patriots also set a league record with 181 rushing first-downs, which still stands as of 2022.

Hannah missed only five games out of a possible 191 because of injuries during his career.

He was voted the Seagram's Seven Crowns of Sports Offensive Lineman of the Year in 1978 and 1980 and won the NFLPA/Coca-Cola Offensive Lineman of the Year Award (voted on by NFL players) three times in four years (1978–1979, 1981).

Named by Sports Illustrated magazine in 1981 as "the best offensive lineman of all time", Hannah received nine Pro Bowl and seven first-team All-Pro selections.

In the 1985 season Hannah helped guide the team to its first AFC title and Super Bowl appearance.

Hannah retired from the NFL after playing in Super Bowl XX.

He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1991 and the College Football Hall of Fame in 1999.

In 1991 he became the inaugural inductee of the New England Patriots Hall of Fame.

Hannah was born in Canton, Georgia, the son of an NFL player, Herbert "Herb" Hannah, who also played for the University of Alabama as an offensive linewman.

Hannah was raised in Albertville, Alabama, and participated in high school football, wrestling and track at Baylor School in Chattanooga, Tennessee.

In 1991, he became the first Patriots player inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

In 1994, he was then selected to the NFL 75th Anniversary All-Time Team as the #1 guard on the team.

Hannah was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1999.

Bryant would later say that Hannah was the greatest lineman he ever coached.

In 1999, he was ranked number 20 on The Sporting News' list of the 100 Greatest Football Players, the highest-ranking Patriot, the highest-ranking guard, and the second-ranked offensive lineman behind Anthony Muñoz.

In 2019, Hannah was then selected to the NFL 100th Anniversary All-Time Team.