GREEN BAY, Wis., Feb. 27 (UPI) -- There is never a good time to learn that you have been cut from an NFL roster. But for A.J. Hawk the setting could have been better.
Hawk was on a cruise ship with Ohio State football coach Urban Meyer and 2,500 passengers that was stuck in a holding pattern and couldn't port because of intense fog. It was then, in the Gulf of Mexico, that A.J. Hawk got the call from Green Bay Packers brass.
"We've known for five days at least," Hawk told USA Today. "The Packers were awesome — I said you could go ahead and (announce it) — we got stuck at sea a few days when I was there and they held off and didn't really want me to have to answer questions with 2500 Ohio State fans on the boat ... so they held off and let me get back to Ohio.
The trip was for the annual Buckeye Cruise for Cancer.
"I'm a big boy, I could have handled it. But they really didn't want that situation to happen when we were out there raising $2 million for charity."
The Packers released Hawk Wednesday after nine seasons. The 31-year-old had ankle surgery in January. Hawk was selected No. 5 overall in the 2006 NFL Draft and has 1,118 tackles and 19 sacks in his career.
Former Ohio State player Dustin Fox posted several pictures to Instagram, documenting the fogged voyage.
