INDIANAPOLIS — Trapped inside the 6-2, 320-pound body of Johnathan Hankins is a running back longing to escape.
During his childhood in Detroit, a much smaller Hankins was a feared running back in pee wee football. Hankins’ idol was Jerome Bettis, a Hall of Fame running back and fellow Detroit native. Hankins said he ran like Bettis, punished tacklers like Bettis, and wanted to become an NFL running back like Bettis.
But then something derailed Hankins’ running back career. He kept growing.
“The way he looks now is the way he looked in high school,” said Donshell English, the current coach at Detroit Mumford who coached Hankins at Detroit Southeastern.