Hanson fought through a heel injury in his final seasons. He had a fleeting thought of coming out of retirement after the injury healed, and when the Lions were having kicking problems early in 2014 before singing Matt Prater.
"My body felt good," Hanson said. "My heel, which was hurting, felt good. I went out and kicked. I kicked really good. I was like, 'Holy cow.' But that was really it. I just let it go.
"There was a slight window. Did I have the interest? And did the body work? But nothing came of it. I wasn't worried about it. It was really nothing.
"The team was moving on. I put the kicking shoes in the closet."
They have remained there.
Hanson and his wife, Kathleen, have made Metro Detroit their home since the midpoint of his career. They have three kids, sons Ryan and Luke, and a daughter, Jessica.
Hanson was popular among Lions fans, and he remains so in retirement. He is active in the Highland Park Baptist Church in Southfield, and he does speaking engagements and coaches young kickers.
"That sounds more glorified than it is," he said of coaching. "It's kind of word of mouth – 'Hey, are you giving lessons? Sure.' At any given time, there'll be three to five kids.
"The predominance of my speaking is faith based, talking about the Christian athlete."
He also does corporate engagements. .
No surprise about what he gets from the audience when he opens the floor to questions.
"They want to know what it was like playing with Barry Sanders," Hanson said. "And what it was like playing with Calvin Johnson. Who was the strongest player I ever played with?
"What happened with that kick you missed? What was the greatest kick you ever made? All the curious questions people want to know.
"What was the NFL experience like as well? That's the unique thing. It's a short window, but it's a great one. Very few people get a chance to do it.
"What it was like playing with Barry is probably the most popular one."
So what was it like?
"Barry was the greatest," Hanson said. "Just the uniqueness and greatness of what he did. He's the guy that they say, 'He's like Barry.' But nobody is."
Hanson divides his career into two almost equal segments – the Silverdome years for his first 10 seasons (1992-2001) and the Ford Field years for the last 11 (2002-12).
The two segments could not be more different.
The Ford Field years produced one winning season – 10-6 in 2011 and a wild-card playoff berth, the only postseason appearance in that period.
"It was tough," Hanson said. "I don't want to overplay it and have self-pity. Just year after year, by midseason your season is over. It's hard on everyone to show up and play at the highest level when you're 1-7 and 2-6 year after year.
"I tried to just be a pro. You show up. You do your job the best you can. Luckily, unlike the other guys, my job was mostly execution. I can't imagine what it's like to play such a violent, fast sport as football without knowing at the end of the year there'll be a playoff or something.
"The number one rule of sports is, don't lose."
"now" - Google News
July 05, 2020 at 08:24PM
https://ift.tt/3e0vCj1
Where are they now: Jason Hanson - detroitlions.com
"now" - Google News
https://ift.tt/35sfxPY
Bagikan Berita Ini
0 Response to "Where are they now: Jason Hanson - detroitlions.com"
Post a Comment