Don Hasselbeck (2024) - CU Athletic Hall of Fame - University of Colorado Athletics

Don Hasselbeck

Induction:
2024
Class:
1976

Lettered four years at tight end, as a freshman under coach Eddie Crowder and then three seasons under coach Bill Mallory (1974-76) … Earned first-team All-American honors as a senior from The Sporting News, when he helped lead the Buffaloes to the Big Eight Conference title and a subsequent berth in the Orange Bowl … He was tabbed a second-team All-American his junior year by United Press International, and was a Playboy Preseason All-American prior to his senior year … He was a two-time, unanimous first-team All-Big Eight performer as a junior and senior, with the Buffs compiling a 17-7 record over those two seasons and also earning an invitation to the Astro-Bluebonnet Bowl his junior year … His 50 career receptions were the second-most by a tight end at the time in school history, with his 612 receiving yards third … Averaged 12.2 yards per catch and scored three touchdowns (all in his junior season which all turned games around against Iowa State, Missouri and Kansas) … In the two bowl games, he caught seven passes for 102 yards (14.6 per) with a touchdown; five of those came against Texas in the Astro-Bluebonnet Bowl, covering 84 yards; a 25-yard score put CU ahead at the time, 21-7, before UT rallied to win … The 102 yards were the most by a CU receiver in the postseason until Michael Westbrook passed him after the ’93 Fiesta Bowl … An honorable mention member of CU’s All-Century team, selected in 1989… Also was a two-time, second-team Academic All-American (junior and senior years) … One of just three players in school history to earn first-team All-America, first-team All-Conference with first- or second-team Academic All-American and first-team Academic All-Conference honors in the same season when he was recognized as a senior in 1976 … Played in both the Japan and Hula bowls after his senior season … Had an 11-yard TD reception in the Japan Bowl to help the West to a 21-10 victory … Also had a 7-yard TD catch in the Hula Bowl, which the West also won, 20-17 … A second round selection by the New England Patriots in the 1977 NFL Draft (52nd pick overall) … He played in 123 NFL games with the Patriots (1977-83), Los Angeles Raiders (1983), Minnesota (1984) and the New York Giants (1985) … In those nine NFL seasons combined, he caught 107 passes for 1,542 yards (14.4 per) with 18 touchdowns in the regular season, with eight catches for 90 yards and two scores in eight playoff games … He won a Super Bowl Ring playing for the Raiders in 1983 … Father of Matt and Tim Hasselbeck, who both played quarterback collegiately at Boston College and then in the NFL … Earned his degree from CU in Fine Arts as he was an accomplished metal sculptor and painter … The second-tallest player in CU football history when he played (6-foot-8, 265 pounds) … After his NFL career, he opened an architectural design and real estate firm in the Boston area, designing and building custom homes … But he missed being involved in sports and moved on to Reebok, where in 22 years he had various management roles in sales and marketing, including launching its “cleated” business (football, baseball and soccer cleats) … Since retiring, he is a full-time artist and a volunteer high school football coach (he spent the 2022-23 seasons assisting son Matt at Xaverian Brothers High in Westwood, Mass., where his grandson Henry led the team to the state title and is a freshman at UCLA; this year, he has relocated to Nashville, Tenn., and is helping son Tim coach at Ensworth High) … He was born April 1, 1955 in Cincinnati, Ohio (where he graduated from LaSalle High School).