On a team full of truly talented individuals, there’s room for more than one nickname. Rashard “Hollywood” Higgins is the most notable Rams player, but let’s not forget about “Super Joe” Hansley.
Hansley, a senior, has been at Colorado State since his freshman year in the fall of the 2012, playing all four years as a wide receiver with some superb success. Hansley has played in a total of 44 games and accumulated 126 recptions for 1,699 yards and 11 touchdowns. And those totals will only continue to rise since we are only a little over half way through the 2015 season.
“He’s a dependable person,” head coach Mike Bobo said of Hansley after practice Tuesday. “He’s usually going to be where he’s supposed to be. He runs good routes. He can catch the ball and he has deceptive speed. He does a great job of changing directions, in and out of cuts. He does a great job after the catch, when he catches the ball.”
Fans who have watched “Super Joe” over the years know he has been that guy to step up and been there for this Rams team. He’s done that this year, as well.
Late in the Week 2 loss to the Minnesota Golden Gophers, Hansley gave his Rams a chance to win by catching Coleman Key’s 49-yard touchdown pass to tie the game and send it to overtime. And last week he scored twice, which should’ve been three times but his 75-yard punt return was called back due to an illegal block. Oh, don’t forget his passing touchdown against Boise State, too. Seven games into the season, Hansley has 18 receptions for 272 yards and five touchdowns.
Hansley is not done yet, though. He has five games left in his senior year barring a bowl appearance before No. 25 is done wearing the green and gold.
“We aren’t where we need to be,” Hansley said after practice Tuesday. “Last week helped getting that win, but week two, three were heart breakers for us. I still look back, but I moved on. But, looking at our record those ones still hurt.
“Definitely, I don’t think we are where we need to be or we can be,” Hansley continued. “But with that being said, that doesn’t mean we can’t get there and win out the rest of the season.”
This quote is telling: Joe is showing his passionate side and thinks this football team is just heating up. Last Saturday, “Super Joe” totaled three catches for 75 yards and two touchdowns, it’s clear he’s clicking with quarterback Nick Stevens. “Yeah, I think it was definitely a sign our rhythms are getting back and getting to the point we need to be at.”
During this bye week, the Rams are working on their fundamentals and working toward facing San Diego State. When asked about how the Rams’ receiving corps was bettering themselves and the rhythm between the quarterback-receiver combos Joe explained, “We do a lot of different drills each day depending on who we are playing each week, depending on the defense and stuff like that. But specifically with the quarterbacks it’s really running your routs hard every day in practice, ’cause then you get the timing down. If you’re jogging routes in practice then their not going to get the timing down with us. It’s nothing special, it’s nothing specific, it’s just consistency running full speed and getting your routes down with the quarterbacks.”
Clearly, the senior who has grown into the receivers’ leader, is seeing the results of practicing hard pay off for him on Saturdays.
Get to know Joe
We thought Colorado State fans would love to learn about “Super Joe,” the dependable and likable Rams receiver.
What does he listen to pre-game? “I listen to a lot of Drake. I don’t listen to a lot of big pump up, fast paced stuff, I like slow tempo. I like slow Drake. Drake is definitely who I listen to.”
While he and teammates are preparing during this bye week, Joe is not all work. “I’m actually going back home (Highlands Ranch), I’m going back to one of my high school games,” he said. “I haven’t been back in four years I’m going to check it out, they are struggling right now but I’m going down there to watch a game, it will be fun.”
“I just got a dog this last summer. So my time is kind of booked up with him,” Hansley on what he does in his free time. “Outside of football I like relaxing, hanging out. Especially during the season, I’ll go now it’s kind of like every Sunday I’ll go to the dog park with my girlfriend. It’s pretty laid back and pretty calm.”
If you ever get a chance to see Joe without a helmet on he probably will be reping a different team with a wide variety of hats. Two weeks ago he was wearing an Atlanta Braves hat post-practice, on Tuesday it was a New York Yankees cap. “I wear a lot of hats. I got a lot of hats. I just like wearing hats.”
Joe Hansley is a guy that has put the work in for four years and is still not finished. He will be suiting up with his brothers in green and gold on Oct. 31 when the CSU Rams (3-4, 1-2 MW) face off against Mountain West rival San Diego State Aztecs (3-3, 2-0 MW) at 1:30 p.m. MT. This game will be televised by CBS Sports Network and on the radio with 105.5 ESPN for those who will be unable to attend.
