Javon Hargrave

BIOGRAPHY

Javon Hargrave was born on February 7th, 1993, in Salisbury, North Carolina. He is a nose tackle in the National Football League.

Javon Hargrave attended North Roan High School (Spencer, N.C.) and earned four letters in football and basketball, and one in track. He garnered all-state and all-county accolades in football, and he was named Defensive Player of the Year twice. Javon was all-state in basketball, and was named Player of the Year as a junior, and was a member of the 2011 basketball state championship team.

Hargrave began attending South Carolina State in 2012. As a freshman in 2012, he finished with 45 tackles and 4.5 tackles for a loss. He was named a Freshman All-American. The following season, he collected 12.5 tackles for a loss and 3.5 sacks. On October 25, 2014, he tied an FCS record after finishing with a total of 6 sacks against Bethune-Cookman. He finished third among the FCS with 16 sacks as a junior in 2014 and was voted an Associated Press All-American.

In the 2015 season opener he made 6 solo tackles, 4.5 tackles for losses, and 2.5 sacks in a 35-7 victory against Arkansas-Pine Bluff. On September 16, 2015, he made 3 tackles and 2.5 tackles for a loss in a 36-0 shutout of Florida A&M. On October 3, 2015, he had a season-high 10 tackles and a sack in a loss to Furman. On October 24, 2015, Hargrave had one of his best games of the season, finishing with 6 solo tackles, 8 total tackles, 4 tackles for losses, forced a fumble, and had a season-high 3 sacks against Delaware State. In Week 11, he again had a season-high 3 sacks, 7 tackles, and 4 tackles for losses in a victory over Norfolk State. In his last career collegiate game he made a total of 4 tackles, 2 sacks, and a forced fumble in a win over Savannah State.

Javon finished his last season with South Carolina State with 45 solo tackles, 59 total tackles, 22 tackles for losses, 13.5 sacks, and 2 forced fumbles. For the second consecutive season he was named an Associated Press All-American. On June 10, 2016, the Pittsburgh Steelers signed him to a four-year, $3.114 million rookie contract with a $693,000 signing bonus. Hargrave was the last player of the Steelers' 2016 draft class to sign a contract with the Steelers.

After competing with fellow nose tackle Daniel McCullers in training camp and the preseason, Hargrave won the starting job as the starting nose tackle to begin the 2016 season. Hargrave returned as the starting nose tackle to start the 2017 season after winning the job over Daniel McCullers and Roy Philon. He started the Pittsburgh Steelers' season-opener against the Cleveland Browns and made three solo tackles and sacked DeShone Kizer in the Steelers' 21-18 victory. On October 8, 2017, Hargrave recorded a career-high ten combined tackles in a 30-9 loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars.

In week 11 against the Jacksonville Jaguars, Hargrave recorded 4 tackles, 2 sacks, and 1 pass defended as the Steelers won 20-16. Hargrave finished the season with 41 tackles, 6 sacks, and 1 pass defended. He received an overall grade of 82.7 from Pro Football Focus in 2018, which ranked as the 19th highest grade among all qualifying interior defenders.

In week 4 against the Cincinnati Bengals, Hargrave recorded his first sack of the season on Andy Dalton in the 27-3 win.

On March 13, 2022, Javon Hargrave reached agreement on a four-year, $84 million deal that included $40 million guaranteed at signing with the San Francisco 49ers.