Josh Hawkins loves a stage, and in his world, there is none bigger than the opponent’s end zone at Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium, where he triumphantly stood in the Saturday afternoon sun with the football in his hands.
It’s taken him a long time to get there. If the rules permitted, he might have stayed a while longer.
As stages go, the East Carolina senior cornerback’s 100-yard journey from one end zone to the other in the Pirates’ 30-17 win against Tulsa was part of his final one as a college athlete.
Like dozens of others on the ECU football team, Hawkins began his career as just a sort-of Pirate.