Pat McAfee Show co-host A.J. Hawk was the No. 5 overall NFL Draft pick in 2006 and played 11 years with the Packers, Bengals and Falcons after a dominant career at Ohio State. The hard-hitting linebacker was a Unanimous All-American in 2005 and was named the Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year. Calling him a “monster” would be an understatement.
Hawk, now 39, is happily married to his wife of 16 years, Laura. She is the sister of former Notre Dame quarterback Brady Quinn.
That made things awkward during Hawk’s final collegiate game. The Buckeyes played the Irish in the 2006 Fiesta Bowl.
Laura Quinn, who later became Laura Hawk, was caught in the middle. Her brother was on one side. Her boyfriend was on the other.
To compensate for the unique circumstances, she got innovative. Laura wore a custom-made jersey that split both players in half.
It combined Brady’s No. 10 and Hawk’s No. 47 to make 17.
Hawk ended up sacking his future brother-in-law twice during the game. He was named the co-MVP of the win.
The split jersey resurfaced on The Pat McAfee Show!
Now, 16 years later, Ohio State and Notre Dame are set to meet in a top-10 matchup in South Bend on Saturday. Hawk was in town for the live broadcast of The Pat McAfee Show, and McAfee brought up the split jersey multiple times throughout the week leading up to the trip.
Hawk joked that he did not know where it was. Looking back, the Hawk and Quinn families wishes that they had not rolled out the split jersey at all.
He said that there was no way it would be making an appearance. His mother-in-law supposedly had it under wraps.
McAfee continued to prod and it paid off. Come Friday afternoon, he and his crew arrived to set with a massive Fighting Irish crowd at their backs.
In lieu of his normal tank top, McAfee was wearing a special jersey— the split jersey.
Despite Hawk’s best efforts to keep it from coming out of storage, the jersey lives!
Hawk will be in attendance for Saturday’s game at Notre Dame Stadium. He, obviously, hopes that Ohio State is as successful as he was against Quinn in the Fiesta Bowl.