Sports
Javon Hagan: Ohio Football’s Towel Thievery Extraordinaire
By: Matt Summers
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Javon Hagan’s job as a safety for the Ohio Bobcats is to be the last line of defense and to ensure no one rips off long gains or touchdowns. However, he’s taken up a second, somewhat recreational job: stealing opponent’s towels.
Hagan’s shenanigans finally got noticed when he Tweeted out a video of himself nabbing a Kansas player’s towel. The tweet went viral with over 14,000 retweets and over 33,000 favorites. The second-year safety has been snatching towels long before his viral tweet.
“I’ve been doing it since last year. I do it in practice but it’s just to have fun. I give the towels back to the players who I take it from,” Hagan said.
Hagan takes his job very seriously as he’s been a reliable defender for the 3-1 Bobcats, helping secure their first Mid-American Conference win over Eastern Michigan with seven tackles. On the other hand, it’s nice to goof around and that’s preciously why Hagan steals the towels.
“Just having fun, for real. Just to add humor to the game, but I’m still focused on the field. I’m still keen on making plays,” Hagan said.
What started as an innocent joke on the practice field soon made its way into live game action. The first time he ever took a towel was last year versus Western Michigan. He took a random player’s towel and then took the towel of wide receiver Corey Davis, who later went on to be drafted in the first round by the Tennessee Titans. From there on out, Hagan just had to get his hands on opponent’s towels.
“It first started at Western Michigan and it was an immediate reaction and it just went on from there,” Hagan said. “I did it in a bowl game. I do it a lot but they don’t normally catch me on TV.”
The cameras finally caught up to Hagan. After the video went viral, Hagan was shocked at how fast it grew.
“It was crazy man. To see NFL players talk about it, it’s just crazy,” said Hagan.
Despite all the love and positive interactions Hagan’s has received from these antics, not all the players find it funny. Against Eastern Michigan this past weekend, Hagan finally found someone who was not too happy about his towel thievery.
“Dude pushed me, I tried to draw the flag but they didn’t throw it though. I was like “that’s a flag” and he pushed me and said stop taking my towel,” Hagan explained with a smirk on his face.
Hagan knows his limits though. If Ohio were to be on the wrong side of a big deficit, he knows it’s his job to focus on the game. But in the meantime, he’s been a self-proclaimed “thief in the night”, all just to bring some fun to the field.
This week, the humor goes on the road as Hagan and company travel up to Amherst, Massachusetts to take on the 0-5 UMass Minuteman. Kick-off is set for Saturday at 3:30 p.m.