| No. 62, 75, 77 | |||||||
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| Position: | Center | ||||||
| Personal information | |||||||
| Born: | (1978-11-21)November 21, 1978 (age 46) Mankato, Minnesota, U.S. | ||||||
| Height: | 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) | ||||||
| Weight: | 312 lb (142 kg) | ||||||
| Career information | |||||||
| High school: | West Des Moines (IA) Valley | ||||||
| College: | Kansas | ||||||
| NFL draft: | 2002: 6th round, 187th pick | ||||||
| Career history | |||||||
| Career highlights and awards | |||||||
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| Career NFL statistics | |||||||
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Justin Hartwig (born November 21, 1978) is a formerAmerican footballcenter who played in theNational Football League (NFL). He was selected by theTennessee Titans in the sixth round of the2002 NFL draft. He playedcollege football atKansas.
Hartwig also played for theCarolina Panthers andPittsburgh Steelers. With the Steelers, he wonSuper Bowl XLIII, beating theArizona Cardinals.
Hartwig earned All-Conference and second-team All-State honors as a senioroffensive tackle atValley High School inWest Des Moines, Iowa.[1] He earned honorable mention All-Conference after leading his high schoolbasketball team inrebounding. Intrack and field, he won the conferencediscus title in two consecutive years.
Hartwig playedcollege football for theUniversity of Kansas where he was a three-yearstarter atright tackle who appeared in 38 games with 34 starts. He was named honorable mention All-Big 12 as a junior and earned second-team All-Big 12 honors as a senior captain. He was a communication studies major.
Hartwig was selected in the2002 NFL draft by theTennessee Titans.[2] In hisrookie season, he played in the final three regular season games, primarily onspecial teams. He was inactive for the previous 13 games. In2003, he started every game at center for Titans and helpedSteve McNair lead the league in passing whileEddie George recorded his seventh 1,000-yard rushing season. He was a member of offensive line ranked tied for sixth in the league in fewestsacks allowed with 25. The offense ranked fourth overall in theAFC (eighth in NFL). Hartwig won starting center job with four preseason starts after never playing center prior totraining camp. He started 47 games in 3 years.
Hartwig signed afree agent contract with the Carolina Panthers in 2006, starting one game before being placed oninjured reserve with a groin injury. Hartwig entered the2007 season as the starting center for the Panthers. However, he was released after the season to make room for second-year playerRyan Kalil.
On March 18, 2008, thePittsburgh Steelers signed Hartwig to a two-year contract, worth approximatelyUS$4 million.[3] Hartwig earned the starting spot at center for the2008 season.[4] He was also in the starting lineup for the Steelers victoriousSuper Bowl XLIII appearance against theArizona Cardinals. Towards the end of the game, Hartwig committed a near-disastrous holding penalty in the end zone, which resulted in asafety and negated a first down pass which could have sealed the game up. The Cardinals then scored a touchdown to go up by three points, making the game critical for the Steelers as there were less than three minutes left in the game, but on the ensuing drive, the Steelers managed to get a touchdown and win the game by a final score of 27–23.
On September 5, 2010, Hartwig was released by the Steelers after being beaten out for the starting job by rookieMaurkice Pouncey.[5]
