Alex Hawkins attended the University of South Carolina, where he played football. He later played for the Baltimore Colts of the NFL. The Colts usually had three captains: Offense (Johnny Unitas), Defense (Gino Marchetti) and Special teams (Hawkins). Unitas and Marchetti were among the best and best-known players in the game. Hawkins would joke that after Captain Unitas and Captain Marchetti were introduced, he would be introduced and opposing players would ask "Captain Who?" After leaving football, Hawkins became involved in a waste removal business. His business card reportedly had the slogan "Let's Talk Trash". Finally, Hawkins was a renowned party guy. The story goes that he was once confronted about some indiscretion and came up with an alibi to explain away the event. He was confronted with evidence that what he said couldn't have happened, and he responded "Well, that's my story and I'm sticking to it."