Cortez Hankton played WR at Texas Southern from 1999-’02.
At the time of his departure, Hankton was the all time leader in many categories for the Tigers, and finished with 3,400 career yards, 175 receptions and 30 TDs.
Undrafted he signed with the Jacksonville Jaguars in 2003.
He managed to make the Jags roster, catching 17 passes for 166 yards his rookie season.
In 2004, Hankton only had 9 receptions, but scored his first and second professional TD.
After the 2006 season, he signed with the Minnesota Vikings, but didn’t make the squad.
Joined the Bucs in 2008- but was injured and spent the entire year on IR.
Released in 2009, Cortez joined the fledgling United Football League, signing with the New York Sentinels.
He’d catch 11 passes for 144 yards, as the Sentinels were euthanized after the season, in favor of Hartford.
Hankton played for the Florida Tuskers in 2010, where he started 6 games, and caught 23 passes for 283 yards and 2 TDs.
As the Tuskers then moved themselves- he’d join them in Virginia as the Destroyers in 2011, adding 12 catches for 151 yards to his resume.
Went straight into coaching after that and has travelled the college circuit, first at Dartmouth (2012-’14) and then later at Vanderbilt (2015-’17) as a WR coach.
In 2018, Cortez took his skills to Georgia as their WR Coach and then also as a Pass Game Coordinator.
He’d hop to LSU in 2022 where he shared the same duties from his time at Georgia.
Cortez in ’24 also picked up co-offensive coordinator duties as well.
ACCOLADES:
UFL Offensive MVP 2010
NOTES:
All of a sudden the guys who played in the UFL- no not the ’24+ iteration, but the ’09 version have started popping up. I got teammates Cortez Hankton and Brooks Bollinger back to back TTM. I have to thank my friend Lance who sent out to Cortez a few months ago and let me know that he was coaching with the Tigers.
It took me a hot minute to send out to him all I had of Cortez was an early beta version of my custom that was on some pretty weak paper, so I decided to go ahead and do it right and reprint it on some nice card stock. It’s a great looking card.
Brooks Bollinger saw action in 44 contests playing QB at the University of Wisconsin.
In his Senior campaign he threw for 1,758 yards and 14 TDs to just 4 picks.
Over his college career he completed 398 of 740 passes for 5,406 yards and 36 TDs (17 INT).
6th round pick of the New York Jets in 2003.
3rd string QB behind Chad Pennington and Vinny Testaverde that year.
Saw emergency action from time to time over his career with the Jets.
Traded to the Vikings in 2006.
Seldom saw the field over his career with the Vikings.
Signed by the Cowboys in 2008 and saw action after starter Tony Romo went down and backup Brad Johnson proved ineffective.
Joined the Lions in 2009 but didn’t make the squad.
Opted to play in the UFL with the Florida Tuskers.
Completed 121 of 179 passes for 1,518 yards and 14 TDs (3 INT) and compiling a 6-0 record as a starter.
Returned to the league in 2010, but beset by injuries… opted to retire after season.
Brooks dabbled in coaching after his pro days were over at both the high school level and briefly at the University of Pittsburgh.
ACCOLADES:
University of Wisconsin Athletics Hall of Fame 2017
UFL MVP 2009
NOTES:
Brooks had been on my list since the early days of TTMing. When I started creating these custom cards of the UFL back in 2010, I knew I wanted to get him eventually. I tried back in 2011 but failed, so I just bode my time and picked up these two additional cards.
I had a version of the card I printed out on flimsy card stock way, way back in 2011. Since I had improved the quality of the paper and print, I went ahead and reprinted it and his card came out nicely.
CARDS: Topps 1982, Topps 1986, Pro Set 1991 ACQUIRED: TTM 2022, C/o Home SENT: 1/17/22 RECEIVED: 2/7/22 (21 days)
CAREER SNAPSHOT:
Jim Haslett played college football at Indiana University of Pennsylvania from 1975-’78.
Played LB, DE, and P for the Crimson Hawks.
Dominant player who etched his name in the school’s record books.
Over 4 years had 35 sacks, 412 tackles, and 13 fumble recoveries.
Selected in the 2nd round of the 1979 NFL Draft by the Buffalo Bills.
Jim hit the ground running and in his first contest notched a team leading 17 tackles.
In rookie year had 2 interceptions and 2 fumble recoveries playing at LILB.
Alongside fellow Bills players Fred Smerlas and Shane Nelson, they formed the nucleus of the defense’s ‘Bermuda Traingle’ unit.
An aggressive player and big hitter, Jim recorded over 100 tackles 5 times in his career.
He’d play 7 seasons in Buffalo, starting 86 games posting 7.5 sacks, 11 fumble recoveries, and 6 interceptions.
In 1987 he came back for 3 games playing for the New York Jets before moving into the coaching ranks.
After three years working for Buffalo University both as a linebackers coach and defensive coordinator, Jim moved up to the spring football league circuit.
He parlayed his experience in the World League into a positional coaching job in the NFL with the Raiders as a linebackers coach in 1993.
After two years there, Jim spent a year with the Saints as their linebacker coach.
It’d be in 1996 that Haslett experienced his first taste of being a defensive coordinator with the Saints where he saw potent results.
He’d not be retained by the Saints after they cleaned house in ’97, so he spent the next 3 years as the DC of the Pittsburgh Steelers.
The Saints cleaned house again in 2000, and brought Haslett back to be head coach that year.
Jim led the Saints to their first playoff win that year.
He’d be fired after a tumultuous 2005 season, one in which the team cratered thanks in part to having to relocate temporarily from Hurricane Katrina to San Antonio.
Haslett then was defensive coordinator for the St. Louis Rams from 2006-’08.
Jim replaced Scott Linehan as interim head coach in 2008.
In 2009, Haslett was head coach of the UFL ’09 Florida Tuskers.
From 2010 to ’14 Haslett served as defensive coordinator of the Washington Redskins.
After a consulting gig with Penn State in 2015, Jim served as linebackers coach of the Cincinnati Bengals from 2016-’18.
That’d lead to an inside linebacking coach gig with the Titans in 2020 and 2021.
He then served as head coach of the Seattle Sea Dragons of the XFL in 2023 finishing with a 7-3 record and a playoff berth.
Unfortunately after the league merged with the USFL, the Sea Dragons were not retained.
TAC
SAC
FUM
N/a
7.5
12
NFL
INT
YDS
AVG
TD
6
94
15.6
0
NFL
W
L
T
PCT
47
61
0
.435
NFL
W
L
T
PCT
7
3
0
.700
UFL
W
L
T
PCT
6
0
0
1.000
UFL 09
ACCOLADES:
NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year 1979
IUP Athletics Hall of Fame 1996
NFL Coach of the Year 2000
UFL09 Coach of the Year 2009
College Football Hall of Fame
NOTES:
Jim is one of the many members of the World League pipeline working his way up from the coaching ranks after his playing career ended.
Celebrating the game, the players, the cards, and the autographs for over 25 years.
