NFL receiver Andrew Hawkins gets his master's degree from Columbia

Senior writer

Wed, May 17, 2017, 9:12 PM

What’s harder, establishing a career as a wide receiver in the NFL, or getting a master’s degree from an Ivy League school?

You could be like Andrew Hawkins, and do both at the same time.

Hawkins, currently a free agent who played the last six seasons with the Cleveland Browns and Cincinnati Bengals, completed his master’s degree in sports management from Columbia’s School of Professional Studies, according to the New York Daily News. And while he was in the neighborhood, Hawkins worked out for the New England Patriots on Wednesday, according to ESPN’s Field Yates.

Hawkins posted a photo to Instagram pointing out that his shuttle run and his grade-point average was the same: 4.0.

For the Culture. @Columbia
A post shared by Andrew Hawkins (@hawk) on May 15, 2017 at 10:00am PDT

Hawkins’ goal, according to the Daily News, is to be an NFL general manager. He’ll be more than qualified for the job, considering his education.

There was plenty of sacrifice involved. The Daily News said he started pursuing the degree in spring of 2015. This spring he would fly from his home in Los Angeles to New York on Monday morning, do a week’s worth of classes in a day, then get on an 11 p.m. flight back to California. In the years before that he lived in Tampa, Florida, and would make the same commute to Columbia. The Daily News said Hawkins moved to Los Angeles in part to intern with LeBron James’ business partner Maverick Carter.

Hawkins, who has 2,419 career yards, is set up well for a career after football, if he doesn’t land a job with the Patriots or any other NFL team. And he won’t have to make that rough commute anymore, though getting a degree from Columbia had to be worth it.