2013 NFL DRAFT - Steelers Fifth Round Selection
TERRY HAWTHORNECornerbackUniversity of Illinois6-0 - 190East St. Louis, IllinoisEast St. Louis High School5th Round – 150th Overall
CAREER NOTESHonorable Mention All-Big Ten in both 2011 and 2012 … Played in 44 career games, making 26 starts and posting 163 tackles, 12.5 TFLs, 1.0 sack, six interceptions, including two pick-sixes, and 28 passes defended … Helped lead Illinois to back-to-back bowl victories in 2010 (Texas Bowl) and 2011 (Kraft Fight Hunger) … Defensive MVP of the 2011 Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl … Anchored a 2011 Illini defense that ranked seventh nationally in total defense (286.2 ypg) and third nationally in pass defense (162.3 ypg)
2012 SEASONHonorable mention All-Big Ten selection by media ... Earned Illinois Point Award as top Defensive Skill Player at annual postseason banquet ... Led the team with seven passes defended (six PBUs and one INT) ... Played in 11 games and started nine, making 44 tackles, 4.0 TFLs, 1.0 sack, six PBUs and one INT in senior season ... Also returned 12 kicks for 255 yards (21.2 ypr), including an Illinois season-long of 45 at Ohio State ... Recorded an interception, his first of the season, and five tackles, including one for a loss, at Northwestern ... Posted 10 tackles, including career-highs in solos (9) and TFLs (2.0), recorded his first career sack and had a career-best six kickoff returns for a career-high 158 yards, including a career-long 45-yarder, at Ohio State ... Broke up a pass, made one tackle and posted two kickoff returns, including a 27-yarder against Indiana ... Missed Michigan game due to injury ... Registered seven tackles before leaving the game due to injury at Wisconsin ... Recorded four tackles and one PBU against Penn State ... Registered four tackles, one PBU and a 25-yard kick return against Louisiana Tech ... Made five tackles, including one TFL, and broke up a pass in season-opening win over Western Michigan ... Named to the preseason watch list for the Paul Hornung Award ... Named a preseason third-team All-Big Ten selection by Phil Steele.
2011 SEASONHonorable Mention All-Big Ten by the coaches and media ... Played in all 13 games, making 11 starts at cornerback ... Also took over punt return duties late in the season ... Had 60 tackles, 5.0 TFLs, a team-high three interceptions and a team-high 11 passes defended on the season ... Tied for the Big Ten lead in passes defended per game (0.85) ... Earned Defensive Player of the Game honors in Illinois' win over UCLA in the Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl after scoring the go-ahead touchdown on a 39-yard interception return ... Also recorded five tackles, 1.5 TFLs and a PBU, and returned four punts for 31 yards against UCLA ... Recorded three tackles, a half-TFL and two PBUs against Minnesota ... Led the Illini with a career-high 15 tackles, one forced fumble and one QB hurry against Wisconsin ... Posted two tackles and one TFL and returned his first punt for six yards against Michigan ... Recorded three tackles and one interception against Penn State ... Led team with nine tackles, including a career-high eight solos, along with an interception and a career-high three PBUs against Western Michigan ... Shared the team lead with eight tackles, including one TFL and a PBU in win over Arizona State ... Recorded one tackle and one TFL against South Dakota State ... Posted four tackles in season-opener against Arkansas State.
2010 SEASONPlayed in eight games on the season, making one start ... Missed five games (the first four games and the Minnesota game) due to injury ... Had 28 tackles, 3.5 TFLs, three PBUs and one interception on the season ... Made his first start of the season in the Texas Bowl, where he led the team with a career-high nine tackles, including seven solos, and 1.5 TFLs in the win over Baylor ... Had four tackles and a half-TFL at Fresno State ... Tallied two tackles and a PBU in win over Northwestern ... Recorded three tackles and two PBUs at Michigan ... Secured his only interception of the season and had four tackles and one TFL in win over Indiana ... Tallied three tackles, including his first TFL of the season against Michigan State ... Preseason first-team All-Big Ten by Phil Steele's College Football Preview ... Preseason third-team All-Big Ten by Athlon Sports.
2009 SEASONEarned Freshman All-Big Ten honors from The Sporting News ... Played in all 12 games, making five starts ... Had 30 tackles, five PBUs and one interception which was returned for a TD on the season ... Recorded four tackles and a career-best three PBUs against No. 5 Cincinnati ... Recorded first career interception and returned it 44 yards for a touchdown in win over Minnesota ... Also had a career-high five solo tackles and a PBU against Gophers ... Recorded season-best six tackles, including a touchdown saver from behind in win over Michigan ... Returned four kickoffs for 74 yards, including a long of 22 against Penn State.
HIGH SCHOOLParade All-American ... Named nation's top receiver by Parade Magazine ... USA Today All-American ... Listed as the 58th-best player in the country by Rivals.com ... SuperPrep All-American ... SuperPrep Midwest Offensive Player of the Year ... Champaign News-Gazette Player of the Year ... St. Louis Post-Dispatch first-team All-State and All-Metro Defensive Player of the Year ... Champaign News-Gazette All-State ... Ranked No. 54 on PrepStar's Dream Team ... Named the No. 3 player in the Midwest by SuperPrep ... MaxPreps first-team All-American ... Named to the EA Sports All-America team ... A four-star recruit by Rivals.com ... MaxPreps top-100 player ... Ranked the No. 6 wide receiver nationally by Rivals.com ... Three-year starter for East St. Louis ... No. 1 player in the state of Illinois by Rivals.com ... A four-star recruit by Scout.com ... Scored 28 touchdowns and recorded 1,009 receiving yards as a senior ... Also ran back four interceptions for touchdowns ... Averaged 21 yards per catch in 2008 ... Played receiver, defensive back, punter and returned punts as both a junior and senior ... Rated the 11th-best receiver by Scout.com ... Registered 1,100 yards receiving as a junior and scored 15 touchdowns ... Recorded 118 tackles and eight interceptions, three returned for touchdowns ... Also posted a 44.8 punting average, 263 punt return yards and scored 132 points for his Illinois 7A State Championship team ... Ranked the No. 12 receiver nationally by Tom Lemming ... High school coach was Darren Sunkett.
PERSONALBorn on Jan. 1, 1990 ... Son of Diane Hawthorne and Ricky McGary ... Enrolled in the general curriculum ... Nickname is Black Cat ... Chose Illinois over Arizona, Arkansas, Oklahoma and Texas Tech.
Terry Hawthorne Conference Call Transcript
TERRY HAWTHORNECornerback – University of Illinois Fighting Illini 5th Round – 150th Overall
Can you talk about the concussion you suffered last year?It was a head-on collision. I was trying to deliver a clean hit on the guy. I just went in the wrong way. It kept me out one game. I practiced that following week.
Re: Being better than a fifth-round choice:Coming into the season, I was one of the top cornerbacks. I guess my stock just dropped. I don't really understand how it could have dropped that low to the fifth round. I just thank God, and let him control that.
Re: Chip on your shoulder:Of course I have a chip on my shoulder. I thought I was better than the fifth round. Like I said earlier, it is really nothing I can control. I just leave it up to God.
Re: Reaction on coming to Pittsburgh:I loved being here on the visit. They have a great group of coaches. After getting the chance to meet all the coaches, I'm just ready to go. I want to thank the coaches for giving me the opportunity.
* VIDEO: Defensive Backs Coach Carnell Lake Press Conference
Secondary Coach Carnell Lake RE 5th Round Pick Terry Hawthorne
TERRY HAWTHORNECornerback – University of Illinois Fighting Illini 5th Round – 150th Overall
Is Hawthorne fast?He is fast. What I like about Terry is that he has a lot of upside potential that I see in him. I think he has all the physical tools. He is big. He is fast. He doesn't mind tackling, and he can play press coverage well, kind of in the same way as an Ike Taylor.
Re: Kick-return capabilities:I like his ability. He's been productive at Illinois. The things that I am watching on tape, I think with some real work, he can be even better.
What about his injury history? I know he had a concussion last year and has missed games all four years.
We will just have to monitor that. From what I can tell anyways, our medical staff didn't have any issues with it. They checked him out. He came on a visit here. I liked visiting with him. I think he's really a good guy to be around. With the current group of guys that we have, I think he will mesh well with them personality-wise. I spent several hours with him that day and got a chance to really get to know him. I think he's going to be fine in terms of being a teammate with the secondary.
Were the other injuries muscular-related or did you get a sense of what they were? Just pulled muscle-type things or anything more serious?I don't know of anything serious that may become a problem down the line. Obviously anytime someone has even one concussion, you are always concerned about that. But as far as I know, I think he's okay.
He was rated higher as a draft prospect in 2012, what happened?Just watching it from my perspective, I think that if there is anything I can help him with, it will probably be his technique. I think he has maybe got himself a little bit out of position, and it is partly due to some of the things that I saw with him that I can help clean up. That is kind of where I see the potential in him. Right now, he is just raw. I would like to hone those skills and get him in the lab and really work with him on those things.
Where is Curtis Brown in your plans?We're hoping that Curtis can turn the corner right now. I have a lot of hope for Curtis. I think he has all the physical tools as well. Curtis' opportunities, for me at least in my own opinion, is to come on strong this year and I think he can do that.
Is staying on the field the biggest issue for Curtis?He's been banged up. In training camp he came in and he was banged up early and so I didn't get a chance to work with him in the offseason my first ear and then when he got to training camp he was really banged up and missed a lot of time. So I'm hoping really that this training camp will be an opportunity for him to really grow.
On Hawthorne previously playing a lot of cover three:Yes. A lot of man, a little bit of three. His best asset right now is press, bump and run.
Re: Hawthorne's 40 time:I would say just on average he's a low 4.4 guy.
Re: Josh Victorian being high on of the depth chart late last year:Josh really was a surprise for us. We needed some bodies really to work the look team for our offense and we brought Josh in specifically for that. He was on a developmental team and because of the amount of injuries we had, Josh was it. He was our starter by default. Like I said before, I had probably two weeks with him to get him ready and his first start was against Dallas in Dallas. I have to give my hat off to him for coming in and really concentrating and getting ready specifically because we didn't have much time with him before that.
Do you plan to take a look at William Gay at safety?In the past William has played some safety. He's rotated back there based on some concepts that we were working. My first year with him and even in years past when he was here, he could play safety. I'm not counting on him being a down in and down out safety. He's not built for a safety position, but he can do it. Will was a really productive corner for me when I had him here. He started for me both outside on first and second down and on third down as a nickel. He knows the defense in and out and that's why I'm really glad we have him back. He can also tutor the younger guys coming up. We can plug and play Will just about anywhere on the field and he can be productive for us.
