NFL career over for A.J. Hawk, former Centerville/Ohio State star

A.J. Hawk is officially done playing football.

The Centerville native who starred at Ohio State and spent one season with the Cincinnati Bengals told the Green Bay Packers the linebacker intends to retire as a member of that historic organization.

That comes a little more than three months after he initially told TheMMQB.com he was all but finished.

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Hawk was a standout with the Elks before becoming a two-time All-American at Ohio State, where he was part of the 2002 national championship team and won two Big Ten titles.

The Packers drafted Hawk in the first round in 2006 and he went on to become the franchise’s all-time leading tackler.

He won a Super Bowl with Green Bay in 2011.

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"His leadership and toughness were instrumental in all of our success, and we thank him for all that he did for the organization and the community," Packers coach Mike McCarthy said in a statement.

We wish A.J., (his wife) Laura and the rest of the Hawk family all the best, and I am confident that whatever the future holds, he will be successful.”

Hawk told this media organization earlier this year he plans to go into broadcasting with his playing career in the rearview mirror.

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