Merton Edward Hanks (born March 12, 1968) is an American former professional football player who was a safety for nine seasons in the National Football League (NFL) during the 1990s, primarily with the San Francisco 49ers. He was a five-time All-Pro and four-time Pro Bowl selection with the 49ers, winning a Super Bowl (XXIX) with the team.
Hanks played college football for the Iowa Hawkeyes, earning 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.
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College career
Hanks attended Lake Highlands High School, where he was a district track-and-field champion. He attended the University of Iowa, earning all-Big Ten honors at cornerback. However, at the NFL scouting combine, his 40-yard dash times were very slow, and he was not drafted until the fifth round by the San Francisco 49ers with the 122nd overall pick.
Professional career
San Francisco 49ers
The San Francisco 49ers selected Hanks in the fifth round (122nd overall) of the 1991 NFL draft. Hanks was the ninth safety drafted in 1991.
Throughout training camp, he competed for a roster spot as a backup cornerback and special teams player. Head coach George Seifert named Hanks a backup cornerback to begin the regular season and listed him as the fourth cornerback on the depth chart behind Eric Davis, Don Griffin, and Kevin Lewis. He remained inactive as a healthy scratch for the first two games (Weeks 1-2) of the season. On September 11, 1991, the 49ers placed Eric Davis on injured reserve due to torn muscles in his left shoulder and subsequently promoted Hanks to the active roster.
On September 15, 1991, Hanks made his professional regular season debut as the 49ers lost at the Minnesota Vikings 14—17. On October 20, 1991, Hanks earned his first career start as a nickelback and set a season-high with seven combined tackles (six solo), made one pass deflection, forced a fumble, and had a fumble recovery as the 49ers routed the Detroit Lions 35—3. He finished his rookie season with 37 combined tackles (34 solo), four pass deflections, two fumble recoveries, and a forced fumble in 13 games and eight starts.
During training camp, Hanks competed against Mike McGruder, Alan Grant, and Kevin Lewis to be the third cornerback on the depth chart. Head coach George Seifert named Hanks the third cornerback on the depth chart to begin the season behind starters Eric Davis and Don Griffin. On September 13, 1992, Hanks earned his first start at strong safety and recorded five solo tackles, made one pass deflection, and had his first career interception after picking off Jim Kelly's pass to Andre Reed during a 34—31 loss to the Buffalo Bills. In Week 7, he set a season-high with eight solo tackles and had one pass break-up during a 56—17 win against the Atlanta Falcons. On November 9, 1992, Hanks made six combined tackles (five solo), set a season-high with two pass deflections, and intercepted a pass by Billy Joe Tolliver during a 41—3 win at the Atlanta Falcons. He finished the season with 64 combined tackles (53 solo), seven pass deflections, and two interceptions in 16 games and five starts.
The San Francisco 49ers finished the 1992 NFL season first in the NFC West with a 14—2 record, clinching a playoff berth and a first round bye. On January 9, 1993, Hanks started in his first career playoff game and recorded three solo tackles as the 49ers defeated the Washington Redskins 20—13 to win the NFC Divisional Round.
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. 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. On September 8, 2020, Hanks became the senior associate commissioner, football operations for the Pac-12 conference.
Hanks regularly embarks on speaking tours.