I'm in a unique situation. I'm 5-foot-6, 175 pounds, so I wouldn't say people are super afraid of me. I live a normal life. I don't walk into a room and everybody looks at me and says, "He plays for the Cleveland Browns" or "He's an NFL superstar" - that doesn't happen. I go under the radar. Most people don't realize who I am until I tell them. So it's not like my life has changed since I've been in the NFL or people treat me any different.
Andrew HawkinsAs you get older and as your situation changes, it becomes different. Yes, I have to provide for my family, so if there's a chance that I'm not going to be able to provide for my family, who is always number one, my kids are always number one, then yeah, maybe it's not the same. But like I said, everybody's boiling point is different and you get to that point differently and you're at peace with it.
Andrew HawkinsWhatever backlash I was going to get, whatever consequence there was for stating my opinion, I was OK with. Because I look at my son's eyes, I look at the eyes of my daughter, and I would be a bad dad if my No. 1 goal wasn't always to put them in the best situation as possible.
Andrew HawkinsA lot of things create a distraction, and when you're on a quest as a football team you want to limit distractions. I'm very much on board with that because I am a football player, and things can be distracting. We have 53 people that we have to make sure aren't distracted, because we only have 16 turns to do it, so every one matters so much.
Andrew HawkinsI'm very much still connected to the way that I've always been perceived. And it happens. I'm not trying to play up anything, it is true. I've walked by numerous cars where they've locked the doors, I get into an elevator and someone moves out of the way. I've been to a place where some people think their children shouldn't play with my children. And that breaks my heart.
Andrew Hawkins