View source for Merton Hanks

{{Short description|American football player (born 1968)}}
{{Use American English|date=April 2023}}
{{Infobox NFL biography
| name        = Merton Hanks
| number      = 36
| position    = [[Safety (American football position)|Safety]]
| birth_date  = {{birth date and age|1968|3|12}}
| birth_place = [[Dallas, Texas]], U.S.
| height_ft   = 6
| height_in   = 2
| weight_lb   = 181
| high_school = [[Lake Highlands High School|Lake Highlands]] (Dallas, Texas)
| college     = [[Iowa Hawkeyes football|Iowa]] (1987–1990)
| draftyear   = 1991
| draftround  = 5
| draftpick   = 122
| pastteams   =
* [[San Francisco 49ers]] ({{NFL Year|1991|1998}})
* [[Seattle Seahawks]] ({{NFL Year|1999}})
| highlights  =
* [[Super Bowl champion]] ([[Super Bowl XXIX|XXIX]])
* 2× First-team [[All-Pro]] ([[1994 All-Pro Team|1994]]–[[1995 All-Pro Team|1995]])
* 2× Second-team All-Pro ([[1996 All-Pro Team|1996]]–[[1997 All-Pro Team|1997]])
* 4× [[Pro Bowl]] ([[1995 Pro Bowl|1994]]–[[1998 Pro Bowl|1997]])
* [[National Football League Alumni|NFL Alumni Defensive Back of the Year]] (1995)
* Third-team [[College Football All-America Team|All-American]] ([[1990 College Football All-America Team|1990]])
* First-team [[List of All-Big Ten Conference football teams|All-Big Ten]] ([[1990 All-Big Ten Conference football team|1990]])
* Second-team All-Big Ten ([[1989 All-Big Ten Conference football team|1989]]) 
| statlabel1  = [[Tackle (football move)|Tackle]]s
| statvalue1  = 496
| statlabel2  = [[Interception]]s
| statvalue2  = 33
| statlabel3  = INT yards
| statvalue3  = 410
| statlabel4  = [[Touchdown]]s
| statvalue4  = 3
| pfr         = H/HankMe00 
}}

'''Merton Edward Hanks''' (born March 12, 1968) is an American former professional [[American football|football]] player who was a [[safety (gridiron football position)|safety]] for nine seasons in the [[National Football League]] (NFL) during the 1990s, primarily with the [[San Francisco 49ers]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Merton Hanks|url=http://www.nfl.com/players/mertonhanks/profile?id=HAN175341|work=NFL.com|publisher=National Football League|access-date=December 31, 2010}}</ref> He was a five-time [[All-Pro]] and four-time [[Pro Bowl]] selection with the 49ers, winning a [[Super Bowl]] ([[Super Bowl XXIX|XXIX]]) with the team.

Hanks played [[college football]] for the [[Iowa Hawkeyes football|Iowa Hawkeyes]], earning [[College Football All-America Team|All-American]] honors in 1990. He played eight seasons in the NFL with the 49ers and one with the [[Seattle Seahawks]]. He is currently a senior associate commissioner for the [[Pac-12]].<ref>{{Cite web|date=2020-08-20|title=Pac-12 tabs ex-NFL star Hanks to run football ops|url=https://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/29702191/pac-12-hires-ex-nfl-star-merton-hanks-run-football-operations-senior-associate-commissioner|access-date=2021-09-14|website=ESPN.com|language=en}}</ref>

== College career ==
Hanks attended [[Lake Highlands High School]], where he was a district [[track and field|track-and-field]] champion. He attended the [[University of Iowa]], earning all-[[Big Ten Conference|Big Ten]] honors at [[cornerback]]. However, at the NFL [[scouting combine]], his 40-yard dash times were very slow, and he was not [[NFL draft|drafted]] until the fifth round by the [[San Francisco 49ers]] with the 122nd overall pick.<ref>{{Cite web |title=1991 NFL Draft Listing |url=https://www.pro-football-reference.com/years/1991/draft.htm |access-date=2023-05-07 |website=Pro-Football-Reference.com |language=en}}</ref>

== Professional career ==
{{NFL predraft
|    height ft = 6
|    height in = 1 1/2
|       weight = 177
|         dash = 4.77
|    ten split = 1.62
| twenty split = 2.72
|      shuttle = 4.15
|     vertical = 36.0
|     arm span = 32
|    hand span = 9
}}

Despite his low selection, Hanks was selected to four [[Pro Bowl]] and three [[All-Pro]] teams. He was well known for his interceptions and returns, as well as his unique "chicken dance" [[Touchdown celebration|celebrations]] that were later emulated by basketball star [[Shaquille O'Neal]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Dances with Hanks |author=Gwen Knapp |url=https://www.sfgate.com/sports/article/Dances-with-Hanks-3317470.php |work=sfgate.com |date=December 21, 1997 |access-date=October 16, 2011}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|date=2013-10-29|title=While the spotlight shines mostly on Kobe and Shaq, it's - 12.01.97 - SI Vault|url=http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1011561/index.htm|access-date=2021-09-14|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131029201425/http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1011561/index.htm|archive-date=October 29, 2013}}</ref> He was a member of the [[1994 San Francisco 49ers season|1994 San Francisco team]] that won [[Super Bowl XXIX]]. Hanks finished his career with the [[Seattle Seahawks]], retiring in 1999.

== Executive career ==
Hanks was previously the assistant director of operations for the National Football League, and then the league's vice president of operations in charge of player conduct.<ref name="HanksSuh">{{cite web|url=http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2013/10/19/merton-hanks-i-fined-ndamukong-suh-to-get-his-attention/|title=Merton Hanks: I fined Ndamukong Suh to get his attention|last=Smith|first=Michael David|date=October 19, 2013|work=Pro Football Talk|publisher=NBC Sports|access-date=December 1, 2013}}</ref> Hanks began his tenure as [[Conference USA]] senior associate commissioner in July 2016, a position in which he was responsible for the conference's football and baseball operations, including officiating, scheduling, game operations, player conduct and safety.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://conferenceusa.com/staff.aspx?staff=22|title=Conference USA - Staff Directory|website=conferenceusa.com|language=en|access-date=April 25, 2018}}</ref> On September 8, 2020, Hanks became the senior associate commissioner, football operations for the [[Pac-12 Conference|Pac-12]] conference.

Hanks regularly embarks on speaking tours.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2011-07-11 |title=Hawkeye Sports News: Where are they now? Merton Hanks |url=http://www.hawkeyesportsnews.com/2008/10/where-are-they-now-merton-hanks.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110711150841/http://www.hawkeyesportsnews.com/2008/10/where-are-they-now-merton-hanks.html |archive-date=July 11, 2011 |access-date=2021-09-14}}</ref>

==NFL career statistics==
===Regular season===
{|class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
! rowspan="2"| Year
! rowspan="2"| Team
! colspan="2"| Games
! colspan="4"| Tackles
! colspan="5"| Interceptions
! colspan="4"| Fumbles
|-
! GP !! GS !! Comb !! Solo !! Ast !! Sck !! Int !! Yds !! Avg !! Lng !! TD !! FF !! FR !! Yds !! TD 
|-
! [[1991 NFL season|1991]] || [[1991 San Francisco 49ers season|SF]]
| 13 || 8 || 37 || — || — || 0.0 || 0 || 0 || 0.0 || 0 || 0 || '''1''' || '''2''' || 0 || 0 
|-
! [[1992 NFL season|1992]] || [[1992 San Francisco 49ers season|SF]]
| '''16''' || 5 || 64 || — || — || 0.0 || 2 || 5 || 2.5 || 4 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 
|-
! [[1993 NFL season|1993]] || [[1993 San Francisco 49ers season|SF]]
| '''16''' || 14 || 67 || — || — || 0.0 || 3 || '''104''' || '''34.7''' || '''67''' || '''1''' || 0 || 1 || 0 || 0
|-
! [[1994 NFL season|1994]] || [[1994 San Francisco 49ers season|SF]]
| '''16''' || '''16''' || '''72''' || '''65''' || 7 || 0.5 || '''7''' || 93 || 13.3 || 38 || 0 || 0 || '''2''' || 0 || 0
|-
! [[1995 NFL season|1995]] || style="background:#afe6ba;"|[[1995 San Francisco 49ers season|SF]]
| '''16''' || '''16''' || 63 || 54 || 9 || 0.0 || 5 || 31 || 6.2 || 23 || 0 || 0 || '''2''' || '''69''' || '''1'''
|-
! [[1996 NFL season|1996]] || [[1996 San Francisco 49ers season|SF]]
| '''16''' || '''16''' || 63 || 54 || 9 || 0.0 || 4 || 7 || 1.8 || 8 || 0 || '''1''' || 0 || 0 || 0
|-
! [[1997 NFL season|1997]] || [[1997 San Francisco 49ers season|SF]]
| '''16''' || '''16''' || 60 || 50 || '''10''' || 0.0 || 6 || 103 || 17.2 || 55 || '''1''' || 0 || '''2''' || 38 || '''1'''
|-
! [[1998 NFL season|1998]] || [[1998 San Francisco 49ers season|SF]]
| '''16''' || '''16''' || 48 || 42 || 6 || 0.5 || 4 || 37 || 9.3 || 37 || 0 || '''1''' || 1 || 0 || 0
|-
! [[1999 NFL season|1999]] || [[1999 Seattle Seahawks season|SEA]]
| 12 || 1 || 22 || 15 || 7 || '''2.0''' || 2 || 30 || 15.0 || 23 || '''1''' || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0
|- 
! colspan="2"| Career !! 137 !! 108 !! 496 !! 280 !! 48 !! 3.0 !! 33 !! 410 !! 12.4 !! 67 !! 3 !! 4 !! 10 !! 107 !! 2
|}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{49ers1991DraftPicks}}
{{Super Bowl XXIX}}

{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2019}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hanks, Merton}}
[[Category:1968 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:American football safeties]]
[[Category:American football cornerbacks]]
[[Category:Iowa Hawkeyes football players]]
[[Category:NFL executives]]
[[Category:San Francisco 49ers players]]
[[Category:Seattle Seahawks players]]
[[Category:All-American college football players]]
[[Category:National Conference Pro Bowl players]]
[[Category:Players of American football from Dallas]]
[[Category:Lake Highlands High School alumni]]