Andrew “Hawk” Hawkins is used to being overlooked and passed over for opportunities.
Standing 5 feet, 7 inches tall and weighing around 180 pounds, he heard over and over again that he was too small to play football professionally. But Hawkins didn’t let his size stop him from achieving his dream—he simply doubled down and worked even harder, using the doubts as fuel. And his belief in himself paid off: He played eight years of pro football as a wide receiver, catching passes for NFL teams like the Cleveland Browns and the Cincinnati Bengals.
These days, Hawkins is applying that same philosophy to his post-football career as the co-founder, president and chief business officer of StatusPRO, one of the largest Black-owned gaming and sports technology companies in the country.
Since launching in 2020, the startup has raised more than $25 million from heavy hitters like Google, Disney and Verizon, as well as prominent Black investors like Maverick Carter and Naomi Osaka—thanks, in large part, to Hawkins’ dogged determination.
“For successful athletes, there’s such a parallel to entrepreneurship, especially in this venture capital world,” he says. “Absolutely, as you’re raising capital or you’re pitching investors…, you have to learn to be immune to ‘nos.' You have to have conviction about what you believe and why…. And all it takes is one. The same way all it took was one NFL team to give me an opportunity, all it takes is one firm or investor to even see a piece of the vision to give you the chance to prove it.”
Successful Second Act
Hawkins grew up in a family of athletes, so he understood from a young age the type of discipline and dedication required to compete at the highest level. He also knew that professional football wasn’t a long-term career path—the average NFL career lasts a little more than three years—so he worked tirelessly to set himself up for success after his playing days were over.
While playing in the NFL—already a highly demanding, time-consuming job—Hawkins also completed numerous internships and earned a master’s degree in sports management from Columbia University, finishing with a 4.0 GPA. He shadowed team owners and general managers, created marketing brochures in his free time and networked with as many sports executives as possible.
“If you don’t use football, football will use you,” he says. “I would try to engulf myself in the process of every piece of [the] sport…. I knew that the experience I would get there would help me in the next phase of my life, which—at that point, for me—was anytime. They could call me at any moment and tell me [my professional football career] was done, and I needed to be as prepared as possible.”
When he decided to hang up his cleats for good in 2017, Hawkins used all of that preparation to launch a successful second act. He served as head of business development for the SpringHill Company, the media and entertainment firm founded by LeBron James and Maverick Carter, a role that allowed him to support content centering Black voices and stories. He beefed up his sports media resume even further by working as a co-host and on-air analyst for brands like ESPN, Roku and NFL Media.
In 2020, he joined forces with former Division I quarterback Troy Jones to launch StatusPRO. Together, the two co-founders leveraged their extensive football, business and tech experience to develop NFL PRO ERA, the first virtual reality game to be officially licensed by the NFL and the National Football League Players Association.
Available for Meta Quest and PlayStation VR headsets, the immersive first-person game takes users inside the helmets of some of their favorite players. From the locker room to the field, NFL PRO ERA gives everyday people—regardless of their athletic ability—a chance to experience the sights and sounds of game day from a player’s unique vantage point.
Since launching in 2022, NFL PRO ERA has become one of the all-time bestselling VR games on the market. To create a realistic, three-dimensional experience, NFL PRO ERA uses the NFL’s Next Gen Stats and telemetry data, which comes from RFID sensors placed on players and throughout stadiums.
StatusPRO has leveraged the same data to build a sophisticated 3D training tool used by multiple NFL teams. Players and coaches can review film, learn new plays and practice tricky game day situations—all without putting excess strain on their bodies. Hawkins says teams use it “a little bit like their secret weapon.”
“The majority of players who are successful in the NFL are just as impressive mentally as they are physically,” Hawkins says. “For someone like myself [playing at wide receiver], it’s how fast can I diagnose what [defensive] coverage somebody is? How fast can I diagnose what I’m supposed to do? Because the more that I know, the faster that I am able to play because less thinking and more instinct is what gives you the advantage…. You can get 50 more reps, 100 more reps, 200 more reps of something that you only were able to see twice on a practice field. Imagine how quickly you can diagnose it if you’ve seen it 50 times from the comfort of your own home or in a practice facility.”
Additionally, the company also developed an interactive broadcasting tool called StatusPRO Visualizer. ESPN uses the tech on its weekly NFL Live segment, giving analysts and viewers a realistic, inside look at key plays from recent games. And the world is starting to take notice: At the 2025 Sports Emmy Awards, the StatusPRO Visualizer was nominated for The George Wensel Technical Achievement Award, and NFL Live won the Outstanding Studio Show–Daily category.
Putting in the Time
The journey has been far from smooth, with plenty of low moments along the way—like when NFL coaches laughed and walked out of the room when Hawkins and Jones first pitched the VR training simulation tool. But, fast-forward a few years and things have changed. Now, NFL teams cold-call them asking for their pioneering technology.
Just like he did with his football career, Hawkins has approached this next chapter of his life with tenacity and persistence—and it’s paying off.
“When it comes to sports and football and being an athlete, the person who shows up the earliest and stays the latest has an advantage—because they get more repetitions, they’re putting more time in, they’re learning at a faster rate,” he says. “I’ve applied that [philosophy] to everything that I’ve done off the playing field since then. And I do believe that it’s kind of built a reputation and kind of become my calling card… that I’m willing to do whatever possible to win.”
Andrew Hawkins’ Tips for Success
Go through it to learn from it. “There’s a saying, ‘Forgive yourself for not knowing earlier what only time could teach you,' and I think there’s a lot [of] depth to that,” he says. “You gotta go through things and you have to feel, and you have to build the resilience that it takes…. Experience is the most important teacher in this. It really is.”
Don’t give up when you hear “no.” “The world evolves,” he says. “You might see something early, and just because there’s resistance to it doesn’t mean you’re wrong—you may be early.”
It’s a marathon, not a sprint. “A lot of this technology battle is being able to sustain, being able to stay around until people understand the vision,” he says. “You have to have the endurance more than anything. Have the endurance, learn from what you’ve gone through and apply—and you kind of just keep polishing the diamond until it gets to where you want it to get to.”
Image courtesy of Smith Durogene/© Glass & Pen Studios LLC
This article was first published in the July/August 2026 issue of SUCCESS Magazine. Get your copy here.
