Javon Hargrave Shares ‘the Stink’ That Will Drive Him With Packers

New Green Bay Packers defensive tackle Javon Hargrave has been there and done that.

He beat the odds in making it from South Carolina State to the NFL, and he continues beating them as he gets ready for his 11th season as a pro. He’s played in two Super Bowls and been selected for two Pro Bowls.

Nonetheless, he remains as motivated as ever.

“I won player of the year in the HBCU, so I had to go to a whole event and get recognized,” Hargrave, thinking back to winning the Mel Blount Defensive Player of the Year as a senior at South Carolina State in 2015, told Packers On SI in an exclusive interview on Thursday.

“I just remember being with Doug and all the NFL greats, and Doug Williams was telling me, ‘It’s on you. If you do bad, then they might not get anybody else from an HBCU.’ So, I carried that chip on me. Ten years later, I’m getting honored with one of the biggest awards for us [the HBCU NFL Player of the Year Award, which he was given at the Super Bowl Soulful Celebration before the Super Bowl].

“It was a great feeling. It’s a surreal moment, sitting here looking back and thinking about my path to that moment.”

Motivation takes a different shape now than it did when he was having that conversation with the iconic, ground-breaking quarterback more than a decade ago.

“Man, just that challenge,” he said of what motivates him to keep grinding. “I think right now, being later in my career, it’s the stink of, ‘Does he got it anymore?’ I don’t want to say it’s just trying to prove people wrong, but I just always loved challenges.

“I just want to show I’ve still got it – still got that juice, still got what it takes to play at a high level in this league. For me, that’s just been my focus is locking in this offseason, working out, eating right and trying to have one of my better seasons.”

Philadelphia Eagles defensive tackle Javon Hargrave (93) sacks Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers in 2020. | Jeff Hanisch-Imagn Images

The 33-year-old Hargrave was released by the 49ers after the 2024 season and by the Vikings after the 2025 season, a fact he brought up without being asked. He knows the questions are no longer if he’s good enough to play in the NFL but whether he’s good enough to still be playing in the NFL.

“I feel like I’ve always got something to prove but, definitely, I’ve been cut two years in a row, so I feel like I got so much to prove still and I carry that chip on me,” he said.

It’s not as if Hargrave performed poorly with the 49ers or Vikings, though. With San Francisco, he had seven sacks in 2023 but played in only three games in 2024 – the only season of his career in which he missed more than one game. With Minnesota in 2025, he had only 3.5 sacks but was an impact rusher, nonetheless.

“Yeah, it’s definitely the business,” he agreed, “but you still take everything personal. It is what it is – it is the business. We’re in one of the craziest businesses but it makes you work a little harder, though, to prove a lot of people wrong.”

He’ll get a chance to prove those doubters wrong with the Packers alongside Jonathan Gannon, the defensive coordinator for whom he starred in Philadelphia. Among the doubters he’ll face are two matchups against the team that just released him, the Vikings.

“I definitely look forward to the game,” he said with a laugh.

When he signed his first free-agent contract with the Eagles in 2021, his brother told The Athletic, “His greatest fear is not being successful.”

Hargrave laughed when relayed the comment.

“Yeah, that’s right. I carry that everywhere,” he said. “I just got to have it. I just love challenges. I think that’s just been me my whole career. Going to South Carolina State and coming from a small school and if I can make it to the NFL, then coming to the NFL from a small school and seeing if I could play at a high level for this long. I just love it.

Then-Philadelphia Eagles defensive tackle Javon Hargrave (97) reacts after a sack against the Tennessee Titans in 2022. | Eric Hartline-Imagn Images

“I just love the competition, I love to prove people wrong. I love it all. It’s one of the best feelings.”

The Packers have high expectations for Hargrave, who will be expected to start and be an impact defender on a Super Bowl-contending team. He relished the opportunity to reconnect with Gannon, though he wouldn’t have done it had he considered the Packers to be just another pretender.

“It’s a few teams that got a chance, and I just see this is one of the teams that’s got a chance to go far,” he said.

So, while he recognizes the “stink” of being released two consecutive offseasons, he also feels the love of being viewed as the missing piece for a defense that was excellent last season until Micah Parsons suffered a torn ACL.

“I’ve been so blessed,” Hargrave said emphatically. “Talking to my people, it’s my 11th season in the NFL and I’m so blessed. I just can’t even describe it. If I could go back my rookie year and see what was to be, I know I would’ve been so excited.

“I feel like in this business, you don’t get a chance to look back and look at everything you’ve accomplished. Just to be where I’m at right now and still be wanted in this league, knowing how hard it is, I’m definitely just so blessed and so proud. That’s why I do the work I do. It’s to prove people right that still want me.”

Hargrave said he has taken some time to step back and smell the flowers. He’s a football player, through and through. While he likes being on the water and wants to get more into fishing, he also loves the day-to-day grind of lifting weights and getting ready for what’s to come.

“Yeah, I do” reflect, he said. “I definitely do, especially in the offseason. Just sitting back sometimes, especially after the season’s over with or just a little bit right now, but it ain’t much you can do. You can do it for a little brief moment and then you’ve got to get back to work and get ready for this journey that we’re about to be on.”

I talked to Javon Hargrave yesterday about a bunch of things, including why he signed with the Packers. Here's that story, with a longer story coming later on motivation, Gilbert Brown and more. ⬇️https://t.co/4nBDM61FJr
— Bill Huber (@BillHuberNFL) March 27, 2026

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