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Cortez Hankton a Student Athlete

October 19, 2010 - United Football League (UFL 1)
Florida Tuskers News Release


ORLANDO, FL - TUESDAY, Oct. 19, 2010 - When most people hear the term "student-athlete" they most likely think of a high school or college player. But once a player reaches the professional ranks, any continuation of his education is pretty much limited to what he learns on the football field.

But for a player looking to truly further his education, he must travel beyond the sidelines. For Tuskers wide receiver Cortez Hankton, that means taking a ride to east Orlando for classes at the University of Central Florida, where he is in full pursuit of a Master of Business Administration degree.

While most of Hankton's teammates spent the bye week in their hometowns resting from the grueling schedule the Tuskers have had to carry since training camp; he was spending a majority of his time in Orlando preparing for the MBA test.

"The biggest thing to me is the knowledge that life in football doesn't last forever so I'm preparing for the transition of life after football," Hankton says. "Getting my MBA is a big part of my life plan now that my football days are numbered. It makes sense to take advantage of the time I have right now. I had the opportunity to go to school in Orlando so I am making the most of it."

Tuskers head coach Jay Gruden is a well-known as a player's coach. While some coaches may frown upon one of his players trying to get an education while in the middle of a pro football season; Gruden applauds Hankton for his efforts to further his education.

"Cortez is a professional in everything that he does he knows what he's doing," Gruden says. "He has been a success in football and I'm sure he'll be a success once he is done playing. It doesn't really surprise me that he's pursuing a post-graduate degree. Even if I had no idea and someone had asked me to guess what player was attending graduate school, I would have guessed Hank."

Hankton has been a go-to-guy for quarterback Brooks Bollinger in the first four weeks of the season. He has put up 16 receptions for 238 yards and two touchdowns thus far. His best game to date came in the Week two loss at Sacramento when he recorded six receptions for 110 yards and a touchdown. He has piled up these statistics even though he has been battling a sore shoulder since Week 1.

"Having a couple of days off definitely helped me freshen back up after playing four games in 21 days," he says of the benefit of the bye week. "As a team I think it helped everybody and now we're ready to come back and try to take care of business."

Last time the Tuskers met the Mountain Lions, they blew a 10-point fourth quarter lead in a 24-20 loss.

In that game, Hankton made an unbelievable catch to convert on a fourth and long situation as part of a 326-yard passing night for Bollinger. His first touchdown reception of the season gave the Tuskers a 10-7 lead in the second quarter.

The hype for this game has been all about the return of Orlando native Daunte Culpepper to the Citrus Bowl where he set many records as a collegiate at UCF.

Hankton is hoping to see his team continue to run the ball successfully, consistency out of himself, and the league's most dominant defense to contain the Mountain Lions. "The key this week is to do our best defensively to contain Daunte and offensively we need to be putting points on the board," Hankton says.

If the Tuskers are successful on Thursday they will effectively end Sacramento's chances to make the championship game in Omaha. It could be a great day for Hankton as he will get the results from his MBA test on game day and hope for a repeat performance against the Mountain Lions.

TUSKERS NOTEBOOK: Florida will practice Tuesday and Wednesday at the Citrus Bowl complex in preparation for Thursday night's game...Tickets for the game start at just $15 and are available by calling 407-377-6828...they may also be purchased at any TICKETMASTER outlet or at the gate on game night...Special discounts are available for UCF students and alumni with advance purchase...Upon further review, league officials have changed a scoring play from the Oct. 9 game between Florida and Hartford...the league decided that a bad handoff exchange, where intended ball carrier Dominic Rhodes picked a ball off the ground and was credited with a four-yard fumble return, should have been scored as a rushing attempt ...that gave Rhodes 20 carries for 103 yards and made him the first running back in franchise history to crack the 100-yard single game rushing barrier...After compiling more 300-yard passing games than any player in UFL history (five in his first nine games), Tuskers QB Brooks Bollinger has passed for less than 200 yards in his last two games, including a career-low 155 yards against Hartford...Jordan Payne, a student at Dr. Phillips High School in Orlando, will perform the national anthem on Thursday night...The Sacramento game can be seen on HD NET.



United Football League Stories from October 19, 2010


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