East Deer standout Hawkins honored by A-K Valley hall selection

By: George Guido
Saturday, March 23, 2019 | 11:22 PM

At 95, Daniel Hawkins can sum up his life succinctly.

“I can’t complain about a thing and will not complain. God has been good,” Hawkins said.

Hawkins was once a football and baseball standout at the former East Deer High School and, after serving in World War II, resumed his academic and athletic career at Morris Brown College in Atlanta.

Eventually, Hawkins got on the New Kensington-Arnold School District faculty, where he coached several sports and even did a stint as team trainer.

For his legacy and contribution to the local sports scene, Hawkins will be one of eight inductees at the 50th Alle-Kiski Valley Sports Hall of Fame banquet on May 18 at the New Kensington Quality Inn.

Hawkins will be the oldest inductee, but he’s not your typical 95-year-old. He spent his birthday recently on an exercise bike and works out several times a week at the New Kensington YMCA, where he once served on the board as a youth sports coordinator.

Hawkins grew up in a row house built by the former Pittsburgh Plate Glass Co., near its Creighton Works.

Soon after East Deer began sponsoring football in 1939, Hawkins was a key member of its third team that went 6-3 in 1941 after starting 4-0.

He competed for the starting halfback job with Ralphie McCloud, the only other African-American on the team.

As an option halfback, Hawkins was a threat running and throwing the football. In the season opener against Shaler Township, Hawkins tossed a 38-yard scoring pass to McCloud and another to John Hudak the following week against Plum Township.

His running ability led to a 19-0 victory over Edgewood in Week 3, and a 26-yard pass to Lou Thimons for 28 yards helped the Bucks to another 19-0 triumph.

A 26-7 setback against Arnold took place followed by a 7-6 loss against Aspinwall that eliminated the Bucks from the WPIAL title race.

In 1942, East Deer defeated Arnold, 6-0, en route to a 7-2 season.

“We considered Arnold our main rival. You could look across the river and see them,” Hawkins said. “When we beat Arnold, everyone in town went crazy. We played our home games at Creighton Field, right across the tracks from the high school.”

During his senior year, Hawkins and his younger brother, Leonard, enlisted in the Army and fought in World War II. By then, Dan had enough credits to graduate.

“We went down to Springdale and signed up,” Hawkins said. “I wanted to be sure of graduation when I enlisted.”

After two years in the military, Hawkins was discharged and awarded a scholarship to Morris Brown, a historically black institution in Atlanta.

While there, he earned honorable-mention status in football and baseball and a degree in education.

Hawkins found it difficult to break into the teaching ranks and took a job as a supervisor with the Alcoa Technical Center, then located in New Kensington.

Ultimately, Hawkins reached his goal with his hiring at Valley High School, where he worked for as a health and physical education teacher for 33 years, becoming the first minority teacher in the school system.

He was the running backs coach at Valley, the baseball coach and later served as a trainer, acquiring the nickname “Doc Hawk.”

Though he retired in 1997 at age 73, he is remembered fondly by many.

“I see my ex-students everywhere, at the ‘Y,’ the grocery store,” Hawkins said. “I don’t like to be bragging, but I’ve been blessed by the Lord. New Kensington and East Deer have been nice to me.”

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