On Thursday morning, Chris Hawkins was sitting home, thinking he was finished with football. On Friday, Hawkins was out on the practice field with the Ravens.
"Baltimore called me at eight o'clock in the morning and told me I had a 12 o'clock flight. I was on the plane two hours later," Hawkins said.
He didn't even have a playbook yet.
Hawkins, the 6 foot, 186 pound cornerback out of LSU was an undrafted free agent who was cut from the Jacksonville Jaguars in July. Since July, Hawkins said he's been working out on his own and also had a tryout with Detroit.
"A lot of guys don't make it. I thought I was one of those guys [because] I didn't get drafted," Hawkins said. "I've just been working out every day. That was my motivation, getting cut, so while everybody else was at camp I was treating myself like I was at camp. It was 102 degrees out there one day and I was out there trying to act like I was at camp. I was trying to stay in shape."
Hawkins was signed after the Ravens placed veteran cornerback Walt Harris on injured reserve. Hawkins could bring a fresh look to the Ravens secondary, which has been troubled by injuries.
Hawkins said he is just happy that his football days are not behind him.
"I was at home and I just wanted to be somewhere. I want to play again," he said. "I'm just happy to be here and have the chance to continue playing football."
--Kaitlyn Carr
