At “An Evening with A.J. Hawk,” he’s appearing — along with former Ohio State teammate and Tennessee Titans center Doug Datish — from 6 to 9 p.m. to help raise funds for a new playground at the Catholic school on Ackerman Boulevard.
Open to everyone, admission is $25 for adults and $15 for children 12 and younger. For a small fee, Hawk will sign autographs and pose for pictures, with all proceeds going to the playground fund. The event includes pizza and refreshments, and Hawk and Datish will take part in a question-and-answer session with the crowd.
“This won’t be like dealing with the media,” Hawk said with something of a laugh. “The best part about kids is that they ask anything, and they don’t worry about being politically correct.
“They ask about my hair. The kind of car I drive. What I’m doing that afternoon. They’re a lot of fun.”
Although Hawk attended Centerville schools, he feels a commitment to St. Charles: “I talked to Jamie Rodman, a physical therapist back there who’s helped me a lot. I’m the godfather of one of his sons, and two of his kids are at St. Charles.”
He said his brother Matthew’s son goes there as well, and soon he’ll have a niece there, too: “I wanted to do what I could and the way it worked out, it was pretty much a no-brainer.”
Hawk and his wife, Laura — who is expecting their first child in late December — were planning to visit Centerville this weekend before flying out Sunday to stay with her brother, Brady Quinn, the Denver Broncos quarterback, at his place in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
The Hawks have a home in Green Bay and a condo in Dublin, near Columbus, where they live a few months of the year, and he works out regularly at a fitness club with former OSU linebackers Mike Vrabel, now with Kansas City, and Bobby Carpenter, a St. Louis Ram.
Packers training camp begins July 29, and Hawk hopes to re-establish himself. The No. 5 pick in the draft in 2006, his best season was his rookie year when he led the team in tackles and was third in the Associated Press voting for defensive rookie of the year. When Green Bay switched to a 3-4 defense last year, he was moved to an inside linebacker and often found himself a two-down player, replaced in passing situations by Brandon Chillar.
In the offseason the Pack gave Chillar a four-year, $21 million extension. Hawk’s salary is scheduled to more than double next season — to $10 million — but the big contract to Chillar might signal the team thinks the Centerville High grad is expendable.
He said he doesn’t concern himself with speculation: “I just try to control what I can and work hard. I’m going to do whatever I can to make big plays out there. The coaches know I want to be out on the field, that I don’t want to be on the sidelines — ever.”
Friday night, for sure, he won’t be.
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