It was the best catch the Chargers saw in the preseason, and the receiver wasn’t wearing lightning bolts on his sleeves.
Lavelle Hawkins, bidding for a job with the 49ers in the last exhibition of the summer, looked like a volleyball setter when a pass was delivered high as he drifted over the middle of the field. He palmed the ball forward, kept running and 4 yards later caught his own deflection. Hawkins then bounced off several Chargers defenders, raced to the sideline and completed a 45-yard score.
“You hate to see that against your team, but you’re kind of in awe,” said Chargers receiver Eddie Royal.
The catch they saw with their own eyes confirmed for the Chargers staff what receivers coach Fred Graves had been telling them about this receiver he once tutored in Tennessee: Hawkins was athletic, explosive, and didn’t quit on plays.
That recommendation, along with his ability as a kick returner, now has him working for the Chargers. Cut by the Niners before the season opener, Hawkins was signed this week, as Malcom Floyd was placed on injured reserve.
Hawkins will serve as a reserve on offense and could work at kick returner Sunday against the Raiders. Running back Fozzy Whitaker handled returns the first three weeks. He was waived Saturday.
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In the third preseason game against Minnesota, Hawkins returned a kickoff 105 yards for a touchdown.
“He’s a very explosive player, as we all saw with that tipped ball,” Chargers coach Mike McCoy said. “He’s a playmaker and that’s what he’s done throughout his career.”
Hawkins was one of several receivers to work out for the Chargers last week, and he was 15 minutes away from getting on a plane to Washington, D.C., on Monday for another tryout when his agent called to say San Diego wanted him.
“Knowing Coach Graves was big,” Hawkins said. “I think they wanted somebody who can catch the ball and make somebody miss, make something out of nothing. I’ve always thought of myself as a gamer. Being here is a great opportunity, and I’m coming in here humble, looking for any opportunity I can get and run with it.”
Hawkins, 27, figured he’d been on a team on Sept. 1 in 17 straight seasons. To be on the couch at his grandmother’s house in Stockton, waiting for phone calls, was brutal, and not healthy.
“I was sitting at home eating a lot of sweets,” joked Hawkins, who actually spent much of his down time working out and waiting for another chance.
“It’s definitely not easy, especially when you know you can play this game,” Hawkins said. “You’re working out and you don’t know what they’re looking for. You hope and pray they see something that catches their eye.”
Prayer and faith are significant for Hawkins because he had a hard early life.
When he was only 18 months old, Hawkins lost his 24-year-old father when Harry Hawkins was killed, shot five times in the upper chest, while standing outside an apartment complex. His mother was addicted to drugs, so he was raised by his grandmother, Janet Curley, in Stockton’s hardscrabble Sierra Vista housing projects. He bought her a nice home in Stockton when he made it in the NFL, and Hawkins twice moved his younger brother, Lewis, to Nashville because he feared for his safety in Stockton.
Hawkins always found solace in football, where he excelled at the highest level. He was a Parade All-American at Stockton’s Edison High, briefly went to LSU, and ended up at Cal, where he finished 10th all-time in receptions. Draft expert Mel Kiper Jr. rated him the top senior receiver in the 2008 NFL Draft, and the Titans picked him in the fourth round.
The potential has been mostly unrealized. Hawkins caught 47 passes and one touchdown in his best season in 2011, but he had only 24 receptions in his other four years at Tennessee. He was set to make $1.7 million this season until the Titans cut him in May.
“I just want to learn as much as I can, as fast as I can, to help this team win,” he said.
