Michiko Araki
Lavelle Hawkins has been itching to get back on the field.
After suffering a broken arm on the very first day of training camp and forced to put his CFL debut on hold, Lavelle will finally see playing time on the field and will look to make an impression against the Alouettes this week.
“I’m just excited to be on the field with the guys,” he says. “Especially at a time like this, to kind of turn some things around. I’m just looking forward to [playing] with the guys.”
Although a positive player, the waiting game definitely wasn’t easy for Lavelle, who joined the Lions to play for his old University of California Berkeley coach, Jeff Tedford.
“It was boring watching,” he recalls. “I’d rather be with the guys and going through the ups and downs, you know, from your body hurting, and those type of things. You have to go through those types of things to feel good at this point, so I want to go through it all.”
Before joining the Lions this season, Lavelle spent multiple years in the NFL after being drafted in the fourth round by the Tennessee Titans in 2008. With the Titans, he caught 71 receptions for 771 yards and one touchdown over a span of five seasons.
For Lavelle, playing in the pros has been a childhood dream of his, and it’s one that he’s had as long as he can remember.
“It’s always been a dream since I was a kid,” he explains. “Of course that’s every kids’ dream. It’s such a blessing that I was able to play in the NFL. That’s a lot of kids’ dreams, to actually play in the NFL and make plays, and God has blessed me to do that. And now he’s blessed me to come to the CFL.”
Aside from wanting to play professionally like most other kids, Lavelle had other things motivating him to reach the next level in football. Growing up in Stockton, California, Lavelle saw football as a way to get him out of the environment in which he grew up.
“Growing up in the projects, you look at [sports] as a way to get out of there,” he explains. “That was one of my goals. When I was seven, I told my grandma, ‘I’m going to go to the NFL and I’ll buy you a house’, and I was actually able to do that, you know, so that was a blessing. It was one of those things where I made a promise to my grandma and made it happen.”
The determination and hard work he has put in since those days has cleary paid off – and now, Lavelle finds himself facing a new chapter of his football career and is ready to put the work in.
“I just want to be known as a good guy, as a great team guy,” he says. “I want guys to be able to enjoy themselves around me and have fun. I want to help my team in whatever way I can – whatever I can do to help this team get a win.”