{"id":840520,"date":"2026-03-29T07:24:52","date_gmt":"2026-03-29T07:24:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/840520\/"},"modified":"2026-03-29T07:24:52","modified_gmt":"2026-03-29T07:24:52","slug":"javon-hargrave-shares-the-stink-that-will-drive-him-with-packers-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/840520\/","title":{"rendered":"Javon Hargrave Shares \u2018the Stink\u2019 That Will Drive Him With Packers"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"Add us as a preferred source on GoogleFollow<\/a><\/p>\n

New Green Bay Packers defensive tackle Javon Hargrave has been there and done that.<\/p>\n

He beat the odds in making it from South Carolina State to the NFL, and he continues beating them as he gets ready for his 11th season as a pro. He\u2019s played in two Super Bowls and been selected for two Pro Bowls.<\/p>\n

Nonetheless, he remains as motivated as ever.<\/p>\n

\u201cI won player of the year in the HBCU, so I had to go to a whole event and get recognized,\u201d Hargrave, thinking back to winning the Mel Blount Defensive Player of the Year as a senior at South Carolina State in 2015, told Packers On SI in an exclusive interview on Thursday.<\/p>\n

\u201cI just remember being with Doug and all the NFL greats, and Doug Williams was telling me, \u2018It\u2019s on you. If you do bad, then they might not get anybody else from an HBCU.\u2019 So, I carried that chip on me. Ten years later, I\u2019m getting honored with one of the biggest awards for us [the HBCU NFL Player of the Year Award, which he was given at the Super Bowl Soulful Celebration<\/a> before the Super Bowl].<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was a great feeling. It\u2019s a surreal moment, sitting here looking back and thinking about my path to that moment.\u201d<\/p>\n

Motivation takes a different shape now than it did when he was having that conversation with the iconic, ground-breaking quarterback more than a decade ago.<\/p>\n

\u201cMan, just that challenge,\u201d he said of what motivates him to keep grinding. \u201cI think right now, being later in my career, it\u2019s the stink of, \u2018Does he got it anymore?\u2019 I don\u2019t want to say it\u2019s just trying to prove people wrong, but I just always loved challenges.<\/p>\n

\u201cI just want to show I\u2019ve still got it \u2013 still got that juice, still got what it takes to play at a high level in this league. For me, that\u2019s just been my focus is locking in this offseason, working out, eating right and trying to have one of my better seasons.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Philadelphia<\/p>\n

Philadelphia Eagles defensive tackle Javon Hargrave (93) sacks Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers in 2020. | Jeff Hanisch-Imagn Images<\/p>\n

The 33-year-old Hargrave was released by the 49ers after the 2024 season and by the Vikings after the 2025 season, a fact he brought up without being asked. He knows the questions are no longer if he\u2019s good enough to play in the NFL but whether he\u2019s good enough to still be playing in the NFL.<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel like I\u2019ve always got something to prove but, definitely, I\u2019ve been cut two years in a row, so I feel like I got so much to prove still and I carry that chip on me,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not as if Hargrave performed poorly with the 49ers or Vikings, though. With San Francisco, he had seven sacks in 2023 but played in only three games in 2024 \u2013 the only season of his career in which he missed more than one game. With Minnesota in 2025, he had only 3.5 sacks but was an impact rusher, nonetheless<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cYeah, it\u2019s definitely the business,\u201d he agreed, \u201cbut you still take everything personal. It is what it is \u2013 it is the business. We\u2019re in one of the craziest businesses but it makes you work a little harder, though, to prove a lot of people wrong.\u201d<\/p>\n

He\u2019ll get a chance to prove those doubters wrong with the Packers alongside Jonathan Gannon, the defensive coordinator for whom he starred in Philadelphia. Among the doubters he\u2019ll face are two matchups against the team that just released him, the Vikings.<\/p>\n

\u201cI definitely look forward to the game,\u201d he said with a laugh.<\/p>\n

When he signed his first free-agent contract with the Eagles in 2021, his brother told The Athletic<\/a>, \u201cHis greatest fear is not being successful.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hargrave laughed when relayed the comment.<\/p>\n

\u201cYeah, that\u2019s right. I carry that everywhere,\u201d he said. \u201cI just got to have it. I just love challenges. I think that\u2019s just been me my whole career. Going to South Carolina State and coming from a small school and if I can make it to the NFL, then coming to the NFL from a small school and seeing if I could play at a high level for this long. I just love it.<\/p>\n

\"Then-Philadelphia<\/p>\n

Then-Philadelphia Eagles defensive tackle Javon Hargrave (97) reacts after a sack against the Tennessee Titans in 2022. | Eric Hartline-Imagn Images<\/p>\n

\u201cI just love the competition, I love to prove people wrong. I love it all. It\u2019s one of the best feelings.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Packers have high expectations for Hargrave, who will be expected to start and be an impact defender on a Super Bowl-contending team. He relished the opportunity to reconnect with Gannon<\/a>, though he wouldn\u2019t have done it had he considered the Packers to be just another pretender.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a few teams that got a chance, and I just see this is one of the teams that\u2019s got a chance to go far,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

So, while he recognizes the \u201cstink\u201d of being released two consecutive offseasons, he also feels the love of being viewed as the missing piece for a defense that was excellent last season until Micah Parsons suffered a torn ACL.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve been so blessed,\u201d Hargrave said emphatically. \u201cTalking to my people, it\u2019s my 11th season in the NFL and I\u2019m so blessed. I just can\u2019t even describe it. If I could go back my rookie year and see what was to be, I know I would\u2019ve been so excited.<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel like in this business, you don\u2019t get a chance to look back and look at everything you\u2019ve accomplished. Just to be where I\u2019m at right now and still be wanted in this league, knowing how hard it is, I\u2019m definitely just so blessed and so proud. That\u2019s why I do the work I do. It\u2019s to prove people right that still want me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hargrave said he has taken some time to step back and smell the flowers. He\u2019s a football player, through and through. While he likes being on the water and wants to get more into fishing, he also loves the day-to-day grind of lifting weights and getting ready for what\u2019s to come.<\/p>\n

\u201cYeah, I do\u201d reflect, he said. \u201cI definitely do, especially in the offseason. Just sitting back sometimes, especially after the season\u2019s over with or just a little bit right now, but it ain\u2019t much you can do. You can do it for a little brief moment and then you\u2019ve got to get back to work and get ready for this journey that we\u2019re about to be on.\u201d<\/p>\n

I talked to Javon Hargrave yesterday about a bunch of things, including why he signed with the Packers. Here’s that story, with a longer story coming later on motivation, Gilbert Brown and more. \u2b07\ufe0fhttps:\/\/t.co\/4nBDM61FJr<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Bill Huber (@BillHuberNFL) March 27, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n

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