money Former Cocoa football star Javian Hawkins awarded key to the city
COCOA — As a Pop Warner football star in Brevard County, Javian Hawkins was known as "Playstation" for his video game-level skills on the field.
Those skills led him to become part of a Super Bowl-winning team and now a key to the city of Cocoa.
Former Cocoa Tiger and current NFL free agent Javian Hawkins received a key to the city Saturday in honor of the Super Bowl win during his time on the Los Angeles Rams.
Family and friends alongside Cocoa city leaders gathered at Riverfront Park to honor Hawkins for his success as a professional football player.
"Javian Hawkins is a great football player and we know that. He's super-talented and a hard worker and he's a leader. But what's separates J even more is he's a good person," said his former Pop Warner coach, Amer Hatoum.
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His father, Tavares Hawkins, spoke about Hawkins early passion for the game, saying that his hard work from a young age led him to his current career success.
"Ever since he could touch a football, he knew what he wanted to do. Every day he'd be like, 'Dad, let's go work out,'" Tavares Hawkins said. "And if he didn't want to work out, I made him work out."
Hawkins' mother, Janique Thomas, praised his character above his skills as an athlete at Saturday's event.
"He was always different. He was always a leader, always was selfless, always put everyone before him," she said. "And that's still who he is today."
"I've never seen a person who has gone through the adversity he's gone through and stares it right in the face and wins every time," Thomas added.
Hawkins first starred in prep football at Astronaut High, before transferring to Cocoa High. He helped lead the Tigers to a state 4A championship in 2016. After high school, Hawkins played briefly with the University of Louisville before entering the NFL draft last year.
Hawkins, who was previously named to Florida Today's all-decade high school football team, was signed to the Rams practice squad last year as a running back.
While at Louisville, Hawkins rushed for 2,355 yards and 16 touchdowns and caught 21 passes for 189 yards with one score.
Tyler Vazquez is the North Brevard Watchdog Reporter at FLORIDA TODAY. Contact Vazquez at 321-917-7491 or tvazquez@floridatoday.com. Twitter: @tyler_vazquez
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This article originally appeared on Florida Today: Javian Hawkins, Cocoa High football star, awarded key to the city
