Halvor Hagen

Halvor Reini Hagen (born February 4, 1947 in Oslo, Norway) is a former American football offensive lineman in the National Football League for the Dallas Cowboys, New England Patriots, and the Buffalo Bills. He played college football at Weber State University and was drafted in the third round of the 1969 NFL Draft by the Dallas Cowboys.

Early years

Hagen was born in Oslo, Norway. He played football at Ballard High School (Seattle, Washington) then graduated and played one year of college football at Shoreline Community College, before transferring to Weber State. In 1968, he received All-Big Sky honors for his play at defensive tackle.^[1] During his time in college he was an avid skier.

In 2006, he was inducted into the Weber State Athletics Hall of Fame.^[2]

Professional career

Dallas Cowboys

Hagen was selected by the Dallas Cowboys in the third round (74th overall) of the 1969 NFL Draft. In his rookie season he was used as a defensive lineman, before being switched to offensive guard the next year. He was a part of the Super Bowl V team.

During the 1971 offseason, because Duane Thomas was going through a contract dispute (he requested that his 3-year contract be rewritten) and refused to report to training camp, the Cowboys traded him to the New England Patriots alongside Hagen and Honor Jackson, in exchange for Carl Garrett and the Patriots number one draft choice in the 1972 NFL Draft. Within a week, because of problems with the Patriots and head coach John Mazur, in an unprecedented move, the NFL commissioner voided part of the trade, sending Thomas and Garrett back to their original teams. The Patriots kept Hagen and Jackson in exchange for a second and third round draft choices in the 1972 NFL Draft, which they eventually used to select Robert Newhouse and Mike Keller.^[3][4]

New England Patriots

Hagen became a starter at left guard in 1971. On April 19, 1972, he was traded along with Jim Cheyunski and Mike Montler to the Buffalo Bills, in exchange for Wayne Patrick, Edgar Chandler and Jeff Lyman.^[5]

Buffalo Bills

He was a part of the Buffalo Bills offensive line that was nicknamed "The Electric Company", when they were blocking for O. J. Simpson. He was a starter during his first two years with the team.

References