ALLEN PARK -- Millions of people watched new Detroit Lions tight end T.J. Hockenson shake Roger Goodell’s hand on Thursday night at the NFL draft. But there were 4,122 people who were especially proud.
Hockenson grew up in Chariton, a small farming town located in southern Iowa. Population: 4,122. According to Wikipedia, it’s best known as the primary distribution center of the Hy-Vee supermarket chain. And now, for being home to a first-round NFL draft pick.
The town gathered Thursday night at the local hotel to watch their favorite son shake Goodell’s hand on national TV, a Lions cap affixed to his head after Detroit took him eighth overall. And then they blew up his phone.
“They had a draft party, and just being able to get a lot of pictures and a lot of phone calls (was cool)," Hockenson said. “I literally think I have 600 text messages right now. Like, I don’t even know what I’m going to do. I’m going to spend the next week deciphering them.”
Hockenson has become one of the biggest stars of the draft. He is the highest-drafted tight end since Vernon Davis went sixth to San Francisco in 2006. He’s just the fourth tight end taken in the top 10 since 1997, and just the 13th since the merger in 1970.
Not bad for a scrawny kid for The Middle of Nowhere, Iowa.
Even though six area towns feed into Chariton High School, enrollment still sits at just 472 students. They do have a football team, although like many small schools across the country, most players have to go both ways because of participation numbers. Hockenson played tight end as well as defensive back. But offense is where he really left his mark.
He caught 238 passes and scored 49 touchdowns in four years at Chariton High, both of which still stand as Iowa state records.
But at just 220 pounds, Hockenson didn’t exactly fit the profile of a major college tight end. Just three Division I programs offered him a scholarship: Iowa, Iowa State and Eastern Michigan. He chose the Hawkeyes because of Kirk Ferentz, their longtime coach. And he spent most of his first season getting eaten for breakfast by defensive linemen who had more than 50 pounds on him.
“They’ll definitely get you tougher, that’s for certain," Hockenson said with a laugh. "I mean, they were fun though. You just got to play the game. And when you get knocked down, you get to get back up and go back at it.”
In 2016, Hockenson redshirted. In 2017, he was named to the Big Ten’s all-freshman team. In 2018, he won the John Mackey Award as the nation’s top tight end.
His rise was as sudden as it was unlikely. He became Iowa’s primary target in the passing game last season, and led the team with 760 yards and six touchdowns. He caught 49 passes while dropping just one pass, and finished with two drops for his career.
“Really natural catcher,” general manager Bob Quinn said. “Really smooth with the way he kind of coordinates his body to put his body in good position to make those tough catches. Obviously, excellent hands. (It’s) very natural the way he just kind of goes up and gets it – he doesn’t fight it at all. It comes really easy to him. I think he’s just got really good top-of-the-route technique, whether that’s with his feet to kind of get some separation, but also (he) can subtly really use his body to kind of gain those extra couple of inches that he needs.”
But make no mistake, he’s no Eric Ebron either. Ebron also was taken in the top 10 by the Lions -- they’re the only team to spend multiple picks that high at the position in NFL history -- but he couldn’t block his way out of a paper bag.
Hockenson just might be the best blocker in this class. He’s certainly in the conversation, and that should help unlock new dimensions of Detroit’s resurgent running game.
"There’s a lot of plays on tape where you’re watching this guy, and he’s blocking somebody, and all of the sudden you can’t see him anymore on the tape because he’s got his guy over on the sideline and dumping him on the bench,” coach Matt Patricia said. “Just a tenacious guy, a tough guy, and a blue-collar hard-worker. And that’s really what we’re all about.”
The Lions brought Hockenson to Detroit on Friday morning. He was accompanied by his mother, Teri, and father, Tod, a college dropout who became a truck driver, then worked his way up to vice president at the Hy-Vee Supermarket chain.
That’s what brought the family to tiny Chariton. It’s harder to get much further from the NFL than that. And yet here T.J. Hockenson was on Friday afternoon, shaking hands with Matt Patricia and Bob Quinn, holding a Lions helmet, smiling nicely for the cameras but sounding a lot more like he’s ready to strap that thing on and hit the snot out of some D-linemen.
“There’s just so many things that have to happen to be where I’m at right now,” he said, "and everything fell into that place. I’m lucky to be part of this program. I’m super excited to get started. These (veterans) are starting on Monday. I’m like, ‘Hey, Coach, you mind if I come?’ You know, I want to get started. I’ve got to wait a couple weeks for rookie minicamp to come around.
"I just want to dive into this playbook, and learn from the best.”