Former Yuba star signs with Cowboys
May 1, 2007 - 11:51PM
The Yuba College athlete who walked away from football is now only a good summer away from being in the NFL.
Rodney Hannah, a member of the 49ers’ 2003-04 Elite 8 basketball team, signed a free agent contract with the Dallas Cowboys on Monday.
“I’ve always thought about (playing football),” Hannah said during a break from his Cowboys-designed workout at Yuba College on Tuesday. “I actually was going to play here, but there was a conflict in the schedule.”
That conflict, Yuba College basketball coach Doug Cornelius said, was Hannah’s stronger desire to play basketball.
“He was going to play both (sports), and he was actually out with the football team for a week. But when he found out he wouldn’t get back on the basketball court until December, he quit and decided to play basketball full-time,” Cornelius said.
And Cornelius only thinks that is fair, since he was the one who recruited the then 6-foot-7, 235-pound power forward out of Roseville High.
“But (football coach Ted) Hoal really wanted him out there. And I didn’t have any problem with any of my guys trying to play two sports,” Cornelius said. “But I think (Hannah) knew basketball was his best chance of getting his education paid for.”
Hannah said his time at Yuba was memorable.
“It was great. Not only did I develop as a player, but as a person,” said Hannah, who considers Cornelius a friend and advisor. That relationship would prove very important.
Whether it is football or basketball, the attraction to Hannah is clear. He is an extraordinary athlete.
“He’s the first guy you notice when you walk into the gym,” Cornelius said. “With his size, he can run, he can jump, he’s a phenomenal athlete.”
The Cowboys apparently agree – eager to coach up a player who only has one year of college football on his resume.
That’s because after two years of playing basketball at Yuba, he went to the University of Houston on a basketball scholarship.
But Hannah became disillusioned with the Cougars’ program after his junior year.
“I liked coach (Tom) Penders, but we just didn’t mesh,” Hannah said. “At that level, it is more of a business and (coaches’) jobs are on the line. So you can’t take it personally, and I think I was taking everything personally.”
So he called his old coach at Yuba, and Cornelius flew down to Texas to talk to Hannah about his future.
“It was a real emotional talk because I was going back and forth about whether to stay (at Houston) or not,” Hannah said.
In the end, he chose to leave Houston and enrolled in St. Bonaventure. That’s when the calls started coming in from the NFL scouts.
The interest re-ignited Hannah’s football spirit and he returned to Houston where he played football his senior season, during which he caught 11 passes for 101 yards and one touchdown.
Two more were called back because of penalties.
While the numbers would not have excited the NFL scouts, Hannah’s athleticism still did.
Now 6-foot-8 and closer to 250 pounds, Hannah runs like a wide receiver, has a 36-inch vertical leap and scored favorably in both strength and agility drills.
“And he’s got great hands,” Cornelius said. “He could catch anything that was thrown up to him.”
In fact, Hannah waited patiently for his name to be called in the sixth or seventh rounds of the NFL Draft this past weekend.
He said four teams – Dallas, Kansas City Chiefs, New York Jets and Jacksonville Jaguars – called him on Sunday, but Hannah went undrafted.
That’s when his phone really got busy with 12 NFL teams showing interest in him as a free agent, including the Oakland Raiders, for whom Hannah had worked out prior to the draft.
“But my agent said Dallas had the best offer for me,” said Hannah, adding that the situation also was probably his best chance of making the step up.
“I talked to the Dallas Cowboys tight ends coach (John Garrett) and he said they were going to keep three tight ends and he was very intrigued with me – my athleticism,” Hannah said.
Dallas will open its camps with four tight ends: Jason Witten and Anthony Fasano, who are returning players, and an NFL Europe player Dallas had drafted a couple of seasons ago.
“The only advantage they have on me is experience,” said Hannah, who has requested tapes and other material to help prepare entering the Cowboys’ mini-camp in two weeks. “It’s just a learning process for me right now, but I know I have the athleticism, and I am eager to learn.”
The Yuba College athlete who walked away from football is now only a good summer away from being in the NFL.
Rodney Hannah, a member of the 49ers’ 2003-04 Elite 8 basketball team, signed a free agent contract with the Dallas Cowboys on Monday.
“I’ve always thought about (playing football),” Hannah said during a break from his Cowboys-designed workout at Yuba College on Tuesday. “I actually was going to play here, but there was a conflict in the schedule.”
That conflict, Yuba College basketball coach Doug Cornelius said, was Hannah’s stronger desire to play basketball.
“He was going to play both (sports), and he was actually out with the football team for a week. But when he found out he wouldn’t get back on the basketball court until December, he quit and decided to play basketball full-time,” Cornelius said.
And Cornelius only thinks that is fair, since he was the one who recruited the then 6-foot-7, 235-pound power forward out of Roseville High.
“But (football coach Ted) Hoal really wanted him out there. And I didn’t have any problem with any of my guys trying to play two sports,” Cornelius said. “But I think (Hannah) knew basketball was his best chance of getting his education paid for.”
Hannah said his time at Yuba was memorable.
“It was great. Not only did I develop as a player, but as a person,” said Hannah, who considers Cornelius a friend and advisor. That relationship would prove very important.
Whether it is football or basketball, the attraction to Hannah is clear. He is an extraordinary athlete.
“He’s the first guy you notice when you walk into the gym,” Cornelius said. “With his size, he can run, he can jump, he’s a phenomenal athlete.”
The Cowboys apparently agree – eager to coach up a player who only has one year of college football on his resume.
That’s because after two years of playing basketball at Yuba, he went to the University of Houston on a basketball scholarship.
But Hannah became disillusioned with the Cougars’ program after his junior year.
“I liked coach (Tom) Penders, but we just didn’t mesh,” Hannah said. “At that level, it is more of a business and (coaches’) jobs are on the line. So you can’t take it personally, and I think I was taking everything personally.”
So he called his old coach at Yuba, and Cornelius flew down to Texas to talk to Hannah about his future.
“It was a real emotional talk because I was going back and forth about whether to stay (at Houston) or not,” Hannah said.
In the end, he chose to leave Houston and enrolled in St. Bonaventure. That’s when the calls started coming in from the NFL scouts.
The interest re-ignited Hannah’s football spirit and he returned to Houston where he played football his senior season, during which he caught 11 passes for 101 yards and one touchdown.
Two more were called back because of penalties.
While the numbers would not have excited the NFL scouts, Hannah’s athleticism still did.
Now 6-foot-8 and closer to 250 pounds, Hannah runs like a wide receiver, has a 36-inch vertical leap and scored favorably in both strength and agility drills.
“And he’s got great hands,” Cornelius said. “He could catch anything that was thrown up to him.”
In fact, Hannah waited patiently for his name to be called in the sixth or seventh rounds of the NFL Draft this past weekend.
He said four teams – Dallas, Kansas City Chiefs, New York Jets and Jacksonville Jaguars – called him on Sunday, but Hannah went undrafted.
That’s when his phone really got busy with 12 NFL teams showing interest in him as a free agent, including the Oakland Raiders, for whom Hannah had worked out prior to the draft.
“But my agent said Dallas had the best offer for me,” said Hannah, adding that the situation also was probably his best chance of making the step up.
“I talked to the Dallas Cowboys tight ends coach (John Garrett) and he said they were going to keep three tight ends and he was very intrigued with me – my athleticism,” Hannah said.
Dallas will open its camps with four tight ends: Jason Witten and Anthony Fasano, who are returning players, and an NFL Europe player Dallas had drafted a couple of seasons ago.
“The only advantage they have on me is experience,” said Hannah, who has requested tapes and other material to help prepare entering the Cowboys’ mini-camp in two weeks. “It’s just a learning process for me right now, but I know I have the athleticism, and I am eager to learn.”
posted by The Gryphon at 8:44 PM
<< Home