What have you done today to make the world a better place?
Call Frank Hawkins and those are the words you’ll hear just before leaving a message. The former Nevada running back likely won’t answer, because he’s busy working to make the world, especially his home city of Las Vegas a better place.
Hawkins, who ranks 14th on the list of the Big Sky Conference’s “50 Greatest Male Athletes,’’ is a busy man. He rises every day about 4 a.m., roughly the time tourists on the Las Vegas Strip are returning to their hotel rooms. He gets home at 8 p.m., right when the Strip comes to life.
Hawkins is the executive director of the Community Development Programs Center of Nevada. Last year, the organization opened a public housing development with 159 apartment homes for seniors and families. Hawkins is also the President of the local NAACP Organization. In 1991, he was the first African-American to be elected to public office in Las Vegas history, serving four years on the City Council.
He also serves on the Southern Hills Hospital board, the Clark County School District oversight board, the University of Nevada Foundation board, the Prime Six committee, and runs a multi-level marketing company through www.frankhawkins27.com
“I say this all the time, look at what happened to me and my life, I’ve been blessed,’’ Hawkins said. “I’ve worked hard and I have big aspirations. I get up every day and give 100 percent. I give back. I’ve worked hard, and I think that’s why good things have happened to me. I could not be where I am today without the countless people who entered my life, good, bad or indifferent. That has created a desire and a will to want to help others because I’ve been blessed by people helping me.’’
Hawkins grew up on the west side of Las Vegas, where he attended and starred in football and wrestling at Western High School. It wasn’t until his high school days when he realized how little he, his mom, and three sisters had.
“We didn’t know how poor we were until we got older because we only hung around people from the same neighborhood, who were in the same situation,’’ he said. “When I got to high school, I started to realize that the other neighborhoods had things like grocery stores, service stations, laundry mats. If I ever made any money, I was going to invest it in my community. I’m proud to say I’ve invested more than 100 million dollars back into what is still what we call west Las Vegas. We build single-family homes and things like that. There is still so much more work to be done.’’
The fire still burns for Hawkins, who was an All-American running back for the Nevada-Reno Wolf Pack. He was entering his junior season when Nevada joined the Big Sky in 1979, and was no doubt the program’s first star in the Big Sky.
“We were independent, and it was good, but there was no championship,’’ Hawkins said. “You could go 11-0, and you were just 11-0. We went into the Big Sky and played Boise, Idaho and Idaho State, Montana and Montana State. The competition level was good, and it was good to be in a conference.’’
In 1979, Nevada became the first Big Sky school to represent the league in the I-AA playoffs. Hawkins and the Wolf Pack fell to eventual national champion Eastern Kentucky 33-30 in overtime.
In two seasons in the Big Sky, he rushed for 3,402 yards and 24 touchdowns. His average of 154.65 yards per game ranks second in Big Sky history. As a junior, he led the league and the nation with an average of 154 yards per game. As a senior, when he won Big Sky MVP honors, he again led the nation with an average of 156.4 yards per game.
More than 30 years after his playing days, he still has two of the top nine rushing seasons in league history. He rushed for 1,683 yards in 1979, and for 1,719 in 1980. Hawkins was named First Team All-Big Sky both seasons.
“He started for us as a freshman as a wingback,’’ said former Nevada coach Chris Ault. “We moved him to the running back position and the rest is history. “Hawk” was mentally one of the toughest players I ever had. You could put him in as a defensive lineman, and he’d find a way to whip you. He was a North-South guy that would flat-out run you over.’’
In his four-year career, he rushed for 5,333 yards, which at the time was the third-highest rushing total in NCAA history. He gained at least 100 yards in 21 straight games, and scored a total of 39 rushing touchdowns. He was a three-time All-American, who arrived in Reno tough, but became even tougher under Ault.
“People talk about how an organization becomes like the leader,’’ Hawkins said. “Coach Ault was as intense as any person who ever walked the face of the earth. It was fire and brimstone every day. It was 100 percent on the field, off the field, in the film room, and that just resonated at the university.’’
The Oakland Raiders selected Hawkins in the 10th round of the 1981 NFL Draft, and he enjoyed seven seasons in the Silver & Black. As a fullback and running back, he gained 1,659 yards with 15 touchdowns. He earned a Super Bowl ring when the Raiders beat Washington 38-9 in Super Bowl XVIII in Tampa.
“As the sun started to set, and we went out for warm-ups, I thought, oh my God,’’ Hawkins recalled. “I was in Tampa, with 80 thousand fans in the stadium, and people all over the world watching. The little hairs on my neck were sticking straight out. I thought to myself, there was no way (the Redskins) were going to beat us. The world was going to see us dismantle the Redskins.’’
Hawkins’ No. 27 was retired by the Wolf Pack. He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame, one of three players in Big Sky history to earn the honor.
“He is a major part of Nevada history,’’ said Ault, who is also in the College Football Hall of Fame. “The teams he played for set the tone for our time in the Big Sky. “Hawk’’ was a very, very special player, and just one great person. He is still a guy on fourth-and-1 where you make the call and give him the ball, and he’ll find a way to score for you.’’
No doubt Hawkins has continued to score touchdowns for Las Vegas and all of Nevada. He still finds time for his wife, and daughter, who is in the seventh-grade.
“I’m trying to travel more and take time to enjoy life,’’ he said. “I’ve created a bucket list. But I work every day. I love what I do. There is nothing greater than driving by something, seeing nothing, and thinking this should go there, buying the land, researching the land, putting the financing package together, finding an architect, and hiring people to build it. Then, you drive buy and see something that’s clean, decent, safe and affordable for families or the elderly. I can’t get enough of that.’’
One of Hawkins’ former professors, Ken Braunstein, must’ve saw something special from him back in college. When Hawkins graduated in 1981, Braunstein wrote in the Reno paper: “The state of Nevada will remember Frank Hawkins the football player. We can be more proud of a young man who will succeed in anything he attempts. Frank Hawkins, the man.’’
