By John Malley, Cronkite PR Lab
This Sunday, more than 100 million people all over the world will tune into Super Bowl LVII to watch an epic gridiron showdown between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Philadelphia Eagles. No matter where you’re watching from, there are bound to be questions about what just happened in the game:
“Who just got that sack?”
“How many yards was that run play?”
“Was that a fumble or an incomplete pass?”
The majority of us will pull out our phones and look up the answers on Google or our favorite sports app and never think about the statistics again. Rarely, if ever, do we think about the individuals whose job it is to keep these statistics with precise accuracy and update them constantly throughout the game for the world to see. There are statisticians at every level of every sport, yet it is extremely rare to hear or even see these individuals in the public spotlight. So, the big question still remains: who exactly are these people?
Meet Jeremy Hawkes, one of Sun Devil Athletics' talented sports information directors and the man in charge of all of the statistics for Super Bowl LVII.
Born and raised in Tucson, Hawkes studied journalism at the University of Arizona, much to the chagrin of his ASU coworkers.
“I like to think people can look past that part of me. When you get the opportunity to work for one of the most prestigious universities in the country right out of college, it is really a no-brainer,” shared Hawkes. “At the time, I was a UofA guy, but I’m all in on the Sun Devils now.”
Hawkes joined the Sun Devil media relations staff in August of 2011, where he served as the primary contact for men's and women's track and field, men's and women's cross country, wrestling and water polo. Since then, his hard work and dedication have helped him to advance within the Sun Devil Athletics department to become the SID (sports information director) for ASU’s football and baseball programs.
Hawkes' statistics career first began as a student intern during his time at the University of Arizona, taking stats on every sport imaginable.
“I remember my second day on the job they had me in front of a computer taking stats on one of the women's basketball games. That was a wild experience.”
After moving to Tempe, Hawkes joined the ASU statistics crew, working many different events and meeting many new colleagues, including John Olson.
Olson was the head statistician for the Arizona Cardinals and used to keep stats for ASU football games as well. While working together, Olson realized that Hawkes had the skills to keep stats at the highest level and asked the 23-year-old if he wanted to join the Cardinals Official Stat Crew for the rest of the season. After his first season, Hawkes took over as the Cardinals’ head statistician, a position he has proudly held since 2015.
Because Phoenix is hosting the Super Bowl, that means that the city's team's stat crew is the official crew for the big game.
Hawkes’ reputation as one of the best statisticians in the Phoenix metro area has opened up doors to be able to record stats at many other significant events, such as NCAA’s March Madness games and even some of the NBA’s Phoenix Suns games.
In addition to his work as the head statistician for the Cardinals, Jeremy has handled publicity campaigns for some of ASU’s most popular athletes, including the first overall pick in the 2020 MLB Draft Spencer Torkelson, who he still keeps in touch with to this day.
“We always used to go on road trips together, Torkelson and I. We used to have this deal where one of us would be in charge of bringing a six-pack of Red Bull. It’s funny knowing the little nuances with some of these kids and seeing the people they grow into.”
Some of the other famous Sun Devils Jeremy has worked with over the years include 2018 Pac-12 Rushing Champion and current New Orleans Saint Eno Benjamin, 2019 NFL First Round draft pick N’Keal Harry and current Chicago Bear and 2020 NFL First Round draft pick and current San Francisco 49er Brandon Aiyuk.
“At the end of the day, that’s why I enjoy working so hard to make sure these all of these stats are correct. None of this is for me. All of this is for helping people and putting their lives in a better position to be successful for themselves and their families. It’s nice being able to see it all come to fruition.”