Javon Hargrave is preparing to play in the Super Bowl for the second time.
Last season, Hargrave appeared in America’s biggest game as a member of the Philadelphia Eagles. This season, he returns as a member of this season’s NFC Champion with the San Francisco 49ers. The Super Bowl trip comes on the heels of Hargrave having a season where he racked up 44 total tackles, including eight tackles for a loss of yardage and seven sacks. The performance was good enough to earn him Pro Bowl honors this season, the second time he’s accomplished that feat in his career.
Beyond his on-field accomplishments, Hargrave is, once again, representing something larger than himself this Sunday: he will represent his HBCU, South Carolina State, where he was a two-time HBCU Defensive Player of the Year. He said Doug Williams reached out to him when he was drafted. Williams is a product of Grambling University and is the first Black starting quarterback to win a Super Bowl.
While Hargrave is the only NFC HBCU representative playing in the game, Kansas City Chiefs players Bryan Cook from Howard and Joshua Williams from Fayetteville State are also represented. Cook is currently on injury reserve, according to HBCU Sports.
Chiefs’ assistant coaches Terry Bradden — played at Howard and Tuskegee before he became a graduate assistant at Bethune-Cookman — and Kevin Saxton, a former Benedict offensive coordinator, represent HBCU ties on the AFC coaching level. San Francisco defensive coordinator Steve Wilks, also a member of Omega Psi Phi, once coached at Johnson C. Smith and Savannah State.
“[Hargrave is] very humble,” Wilks said to rolling out. “He works hard and understands the grind. [He] wasn’t given a lot in life. He went to South Carolina State, made his way up and he works that way every single day. [I] like Javon a lot; he’s right there from Salisbury [North Carolina], and of course, I’m from Charlotte, so I call him my homeboy.”
Hargrave also spoke with rolling out about his responsibilities in representing the Black colleges on the field.
What is it like to represent HBCUs on the big stage?
It’s big. The first time I got into the league, I was talking to Doug Williams, and he told me that chip was on my shoulders. So, every day, I’ve lived by that.
What did you learn at South Carolina State?
They taught me what hard work was. When I first got to college, I had no idea how hard it was to be a football player in general. Just [being] there, some of the lessons they taught me of how I go about my every day and how much work I have to put in to be who I want to be.
What words do you have for your college coach, Buddy Pough, as he enters his first year of retirement?
Enjoy it. He had a long run. Coach Pugh is a legend at South Carolina State. He had a long run, so he definitely deserves that.
In honor of Black History Month, who’s one Black figure you admire and why?
Michael Jordan, and I know his birthday is coming up. Of course, Martin Luther King [and] Muhammad Ali — but definitely Michael Jordan.
