Story by Rhett Beard
Photography by Dennis Keim

we were not good
enough to win
if we did not play as a team.

By simply surviving his mother, Prince Charles will become king of England.
But John Hannah of Albertville didn’t start in his first NFL game because his dad, Herb, also played in the pros.
Hannah earned his legacy as perhaps pro football’s greatest offensive lineman with his own hands, feet and brain every cold, soggy yard of the way. “From a very early age I wanted to play football,’’ Hannah, 54, said recently from his dad’s home in Albertville.
Of course, Herb’s grade-A athlete genes played some part in John’s standout football career. (Younger brother Charlie shared that inheritance: he played for Alabama and made the National Football League draft.)
Sand Mountain in the 1960s lacked the specialized training equipment that a lot of other budding athletes use to fully develop their potential.
Hannah found other ways to do so, including working at his father’s agricultural wholesaler business. “Then, weights were loading bags,’’ he said. “Kids then were more active than kids are today.’’
Many gifted boys dream of big time football but never make it because they’re not willing to do the hard work.
Hannah’s determination and discipline paid off.
While attending Baylor Prep in Chattanooga he won national and regional championships in wrestling and track as well as football.
Hannah then played for two of football’s most respected coaches — Paul “Bear” Bryant at the University of Alabama and the New England Patriots’ Chuck Fairbanks.
Hannah isn’t afraid of much, but like most players at Alabama, he spent little time just hanging out with his intimidating coach even though he shone on one of the nation’s stellar college teams. “Our relationship actually developed after I left Alabama,’’ Hannah said.
So much so that Bryant, shortly before his death in 1983, called Hannah “the greatest offensive lineman I have ever seen.”
“He told us that most games are decided by only four or five plays,’’ Hannah said of Bryant. “You never know when those plays are coming, so you have to be ready on every play.”
Hannah lettered in eight sports at Alabama, including wrestling (he won every match his freshman year.) He was named All-SEC guard three times and won numerous other college football awards his senior year. In 1999 Hannah was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame.
Hannah was the Patriot’s first round pick in 1973 and the fourth player selected overall in the NFL draft.
But his excitement turned to disappointment when he saw his new team’s stadium. “The Patriots were playing in front of 45,000-50,000 fans while I was used to playing before 70,000 in Tuscaloosa and Birmingham.”
Many pro experts predicted Hannah would not adjust from the wishbone’s straight-ahead blocking offense to the drop-back blocking and pulling required of pro guards. But the rookie started in every game for the Patriots until a freak leg injury forced him to miss the final one. Hannah was a consensus All-Rookie team pick, and his next season he was named to the All-AFC Honor Squad.
“Coach Bryant won so many games in the 1960s with small quick players. But later in the decade strength and conditioning programs were added, so offensive linemen were getting bigger and faster,’’ Hannah said. “Many people believe I enjoyed blocking for Alabama’s wishbone offense since we were so successful, but I actually enjoyed running our offense more at New England.”
Hannah cites the 1976 Patriots team as the best he played on. Among his team mates: Steve Grogan, Sam Cunningham, Darryl Stingley, Russ Francis, and Rod Shoate. “I knew I had to keep up with these guys, so it motivated me to play better,’’ he said.
The Patriots’ rushing in 1982 and 1983 topped the NFL, thanks in large part to Hannah’s blocking.
Beginning in 1976, Hannah was picked All-Pro every year until he retired. Hannah was selected for the Pro Bowl nine times and won the NFL Players Association’s Offensive Lineman of the Year award four straight seasons beginning in 1978. In 1981, Hannah appeared on the cover of Sports Illustrated under the headline, “The Best Offensive Lineman of All Time.”
The Patriots won the AFC Championship his last season, playing in Super Bowl XX. “It’s amazing that the Super Bowl was the last game of my career,” Hannah said. “We became only the third Wild-Card playoff team to reach the Super Bowl.”
The only sour memory in Hannah’s otherwise dream final season was the Patriots’ Super Bowl defeat by the Chicago Bears. Magnifying that disappointing end: torn rotator cuffs in both shoulders and a bad knee made blocking the huge William “Refrigerator’’ Perry even harder.
Hannah became the first New England Patriot elected to the NFL’s Hall of Fame. He was also the first inductee who played guard his entire career.
Hannah’s relationship with the Patriots management didn’t go as well as his play on the field. In 1977 he and Leon Gray left camp when the Patriots refused to renegotiate their contracts. They returned for the team’s fourth game after the NFL upheld their contracts.
Hannah was particularly unhappy when Fairbanks left in 1978. Fairbanks “had a great eye for talent, great organizational skills, and he surrounded himself with good people,’’ he said.
Ron Erhardt replaced Fairbanks, and in 1982 Ron Meyer replaced Erhardt. Hannah disagreed with Meyer’s off-the-field rules, and he complained about Meyer’s simple game plans and the staff’s lack of pro experience.
Hannah still feels strongly about his conflicts with the owners. “My father taught me to think for myself and I was outspoken during my tenure with the Patriots,’’ he said.
Leaving football was hard for Hannah.
“I had been used to playing on a team my entire life, so it was difficult for me to adjust to the business world,” he said. “Also, I went into financial investments first, so I had a lot to learn to get up to speed. But I was able to use the principles of hard work and discipline that I had applied to college and the NFL to help me succeed in business.”
Hannah formed the Hannah Group consulting firm in Boston, which included as clients some of nation’s largest pension funds.
But football still beckoned, and in 2001 wife Elise convinced him to accept a coaching offer at Governor Dummer Academy in Bayfield, Mass. Hannah then became head football coach at Somerville High School in Somerville, Mass., in 2004.
“Coach Bryant coached out of fear. I have a different approach. Coach Bryant had his style and I think every coach has to have his own way because we all have different personalities,” Hannah said.
Hannah then returned to his old high school to coach at Baylor Prep. For reasons he wants to keep private, Hannah decided last year to, at least temporarily, get out of coaching.
Hannah is considering what to do next as he takes a break in Albertville. Among his potential options: coaching at a northeastern college or a high school in North Carolina and returning to the business world.
“I’m just kind of keeping it open,” he said.
But, at least for now, John Hannah still reigns as the most memorable football player to come from Albertville’s remarkable Hannah Dynasty.