Veteran Hawthorne assigned to the Rattlers

Thursday February 28, 2013

 DL remains in the Snake Pit

Mesa, AZ – Veteran defensive lineman Anttaj Hawthorne has been assigned to the Arizona Rattlers on a two year contract as announced today by the league office.

2013 will mark Hawthorne’s (6-3, 315, Wisconsin) fifth season in Arena Football, all with the Rattlers. In 2012, he played in 17 regular season games collecting 19 tackles, nine for a loss. Hawthorne tallied 5.5 sacks and two pass breakups. He added two tackles and one pass breakup in three post season games.

“Anttaj has been a major part of this organization’s success; he came in with me my first year and helped get the program turned around,” said Rattlers General Manager and Head Coach, Kevin Guy. “He makes it very difficult for quarterbacks to step up in the pocket. We are expecting big things from him this year.”

During the 2011 season, Hawthorne posted 19 tackles, seven sacks, two pass breakups and six fumble recoveries to earn First Team All-Arena honors. His sack total ranked him as fourth all-time in a single season for the Rattlers and his six fumble recoveries are still the top of Rattler ranking in a single-season.

Hawthorne was drafted by the Oakland Raiders in the 6th round (175th overall) of the 2005 NFL Draft. He played in two games his rookie season, recording two assists. Hawthorne registered 13 solo tackles and three assists in eight games during the 2006 NFL season before being allocated to the Frankfurt Galaxy of NFL Europe.

In a correlating move, the Rattlers placed wide receiver Wes Kemp (6-4, 225, Missouri) on recallable reassignment.

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About the Arizona Rattlers
The Arizona Rattlers are the 2012 ArenaBowl XXV World Champions and are proud members of the Arena Football League (AFL). ArenaBowl XXV marked the Rattlers seventh appearance in the AFL Championship Game where they have earned Arena Bowl titles in 1994, 1997 and 2012.

For 2013 season ticket information please call (602) 514-TDTD (8383) or visit www.azrattlers.com.