John Hannah

High school

Albertville High School

College

University of Alabama

Pro team(s)

New England Patriots

Hall of Fame

⭐ Pro Football Hall of Fame

John Allen Hannah was born on April 4, 1951, in Canton, Georgia, but grew up in Albertville, Alabama, and attended Albertville High School, where he became one of the most celebrated high school football players in Alabama history. He went to the University of Alabama under Bear Bryant, and the New England Patriots selected him fourth overall in the 1973 NFL Draft. Over 13 seasons in New England, John Hannah became something that players and coaches from across the NFL described in terms that bordered on reverence: the greatest offensive lineman who ever played the game. Sports Illustrated wrote a cover story calling him "The Best Offensive Lineman Ever" — not the best guard, not the best of his era, but the best to ever play the position in the history of professional football. Nine times he was named to the Pro Bowl. He was a consensus first-team All-Pro in every season from 1976 to 1984. His combination of strength, quickness, and technique was considered by offensive line coaches throughout the NFL to be a standard so high that it was used as a teaching tool — this is what the position is supposed to look like. He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1991 in his first year of eligibility. Grew up in Albertville, Alabama.