CV’s Travis Hawkins, a 4-year starter, at peace with walking away from football

Central Valley football coach Ryan Butner has no doubt that standout Travis Hawkins can play in the Big Sky Conference.

The 6-foot-1, 210-pound Hawkins has been wreaking havoc as a four-year starter, the last three at middle linebacker.

“Physically, he can play at the Big Sky level. He’d find a spot on a roster,” Butner said.

Hawkins is going to walk away from football, though. CV is guaranteed a postseason game after the Bears visit Gonzaga Prep on Friday to decide the 4A Greater Spokane League championship.

“I’m so thankful for football. It’s added so much to high school for me,” Hawkins said. “I’ll treasure my memories. There’s no place I’d rather be than playing right now.”

When Hawkins heads to college next fall, he’ll be ready to embrace the next chapter in his life.

Hawkins knows that if he played football in college, his life would have to be consumed by it.

“I don’t want all my time and energy in one passion when I want to devote time and energy to many other passions,” he said.

Many of those passions can be found in the outdoors. He enjoys mountain biking, hiking, backpacking and fly fishing. He plans to attend the University of Montana where a river flows through campus.

“I can fish on campus,” Hawkins said, smiling. “Or I can hike above the ‘M’ on the mountain overlooking (Missoula) and camp.”

And wherever life ultimately takes Hawkins, he’s bound to be successful.

Hawkins has never backed away from a challenge on the field or in the classroom.

He carries a 3.99 grade-point average and ranks 14th in a class of 520. He got an A- in a language arts class his freshman year.

“You have to get 94 percent in your classes at CV to get an A and I got 93.8,” Hawkins said. “It’s never been about the grades. The process is more important to me – working hard and learning.”

If Hawkins’ coaches had to grade him after nearly four years, there’s no doubt he’d earn an A.

Hawkins, a first-team all-league pick last year, has piled up some eye-popping statistics. Early this season he broke CV’s career tackle record and sits at 369 (302 was the previous best). He’s been by far the team leader the last three years, getting 123 as a sophomore, 124 last year and 74 through eight games this fall.

He’s also had 22 tackles for loss, 10 sacks and four fumble recoveries, three this season.

GSL football coaches have much respect for Hawkins.

“He’s a great leader for them,” G-Prep coach Dave McKenna said. “What a polite, humble young man. He’s going to make a difference in our world.”

Hawkins plays with a controlled intensity.

“I’m not naturally aggressive or angry,” he said. “I just work hard and love playing for my friends and coaches.”

Perhaps the most telling statistic of all of his stats is perfect attendance in summer weight lifting sessions the past four years.

“I can honestly say in all my years here nobody has outworked him,” said Butner, an assistant for 17 years before taking over as head coach this fall.

When it comes to his athletic feats, Hawkins hasn’t fallen very far from the family tree. His father, Ron Hawkins, was the starting quarterback for G-Prep in 1986 when it went 12-0 and captured a state championship.

He went on to play at Washington State. He was converted to strong safety. He became a starter his junior year but halfway through was sidelined because of a neck injury. He ultimately discovered he had narrowing of the spine and had to quit before his senior year.

When Travis was near the end of his eighth grade year, then CV coach Rick Giampietri talked with Ron about his son going to summer camp.

Hawkins and his wife, Marie, had some reservations.

“Travis was playing arguably the position that saw the most physical contact other than interior line or running back,” Hawkins said.

His son has always been big for his age. So he knew that physically he probably could hold his own.

“Marie and I talked a lot with Travis about it,” he said. “I was not fully behind it to be totally candid. You fear for some freshmen regarding the whole social side of athletics.”

They left the decision to their son. And looking back it’s a decision Travis would make again.

The most difficult part for him was not being able to play with his freshmen friends.

“It was hard leaving them behind,” he said. “It was tough to lose out on not playing with them.”

Hawkins played half his freshman year with a broken collarbone.

He remembered feeling pain following a hit. Trainers thought it was a sprained joint. He was fitted with a brace and continued to play since the pain was tolerable.

His mother noticed something wasn’t right in CV’s last game of the regular season. An X-Ray revealed a clean break that had been healing for a month.

As the days count down on his career, Hawkins admits he will miss the sport. And he will especially miss his coaches.

“I love my coaches,” he said. “One thing I’ll always carry with me is the camaraderie we’ve had as players and coaches. It’s a principle of brotherhood adopted by the football coaches and started by track coach Chuck Bowden. We take care of one another on and off the field. We come together for a common purpose, and that’s something I haven’t encountered in anything else in high school.”