This revealing, introspective look at an athlete’s intense drive to succeed in football also explores the adjustment to life after the final whistle. John “Hog” Hannah was a two-time All-American for the Crimson Tide under Bear Bryant. Hannah starred for the Patriots from 1973 to 1985 and was one of the most beloved New England Patriots players of all time. In his autobiography, the greatest offensive lineman in the history of the sport candidly discusses the price of dominating the trenches. Hannah also recounts his battles on the field against the Raiders and Dolphins and off the field with Patriots management. An introspective man who found religion later in life, Hannah describes the forces that shaped his drive to succeed and his addiction to control anything that threatened to separate him from perpetuating the “glory of greatness.” Reflecting on how this mind-set proved detrimental beyond his playing days—leading to the breakup of his first marriage, his estrangement from his children, and an egomaniacal approach in the business world, he shares how he ultimately found God. Offensive Conduct is both an inside look at the world of college and pro football in the 1970s and 1980s and a chronicle of the ups and downs of a driven, successful athlete. John “Hog” Hannah is a former left guard with the New England Patriots in the National Football League. He was named an “All-Pro” 10 times and won the NFL Players Association’s Offensive Lineman of the Year award over four consecutive years. He has been named the “Best Offensive Lineman of All Time” by Sports Illustrated and was more recently listed in the top 20 on the Sporting News list of “The 100 Greatest Football Players.” He is an inductee of the Pro Football Hall of Fame. He lives in Decatur, Alabama. Tom Hale is an attorney who received his secondary preparatory education at the Baylor School in Chattanooga—a school John Hannah earlier attended. He lives in Birmingham, Alabama. A New England Patriots linebacker from 1982 to 1993, Andre Tippett made five Pro Bowls and was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2008. He resides in Sharon, Massachusetts. Offensive Conduct My Life on the Line By John "Hog" Hannah, Tom Hale Triumph Books Copyright © 2013 John Hannah and Tom Hale All rights reserved. ISBN: 978-1-60078-860-4 Contents Foreword by Andre Tippett, Introduction by Tom Hale, 1. Lessons from the Bear, 2. A Southern Family, 3. A Childhood Hurt Leads to the Gridiron, 4. The Rough and Tumble Hannah Boys, 5. Not Fighting Back, 6. Military School, 7. Fights, Suspensions, and Expulsion, 8. Bama Comes Calling, 9. Playing for the Bear, 10. Preparing for the NFL Draft, 11. Becoming New England's Hog, 12. From Intimidated Rookie to Intimidating Veteran, 13. Wars Against the Raiders and the Sullivan Family, 14. The Snowplow Game, 15. SI's "Best Offensive Lineman of All Time", 16. Hall of Fame Pride Comes Before the Fall, 17. Baylor Heartbreak, 18. Redemption and Salvation, 19. Back to My Roots, Appendix. John Hannah Doesn't Fiddle Around, Acknowledgments, Afterword, Sources, Photo Gallery, CHAPTER 1 Lessons from the Bear It was a long way from Albertville, Alabama, to Boston, Massachusetts, home of the New England Patriots. For a young country guy who got his start as an All-American guard in the SEC, it was also a long time from 1973 until I retired in 1985. Coach Paul "Bear" Bryant, the legendary, larger-than-life head football coach for whom I played at the University of Alabama from 1969 to 1972 would one day call me "the best offensive lineman I ever coached," a quote I would also laugh about much later as being the furthest thing from the truth of how he really felt about me. In fact just before the '73 draft, Bryant told me privately I wasn't good enough to turn pro and simply dismissed my request for some guidance. With the new eyes I have now, eyes that God has opened, I realize maybe his quote was a way of motivating or possibly even apologizing to me — instead of capitalizing on the fame I would earn playing professional football, which I thought he did for so many years. I hope I'm right. If I'm not, or in either event, I forgive him completely for not believing in me and encouraging me when I needed it most. Coach Bryant always carried a poem in his wallet titled "This Is the Beginning of a New Day." If he ever told anybody why he carried it for so many years, I don't remember, but here is how it read: This is the beginning of a new day. God has given me this day to use as I will. I can waste it or use it for good. What I do today is very important, because I am exchanging a day of my life for it. When tomorrow comes, this day will be gone forever, Leaving something in its place I have traded for it. I want it to be a gain, not a loss — good, not evil. Success, not failure in order that I shall not forget the price I have paid for it — W. Heartsill Wilson The a