Do we like Chris Hanson?
Our score: 6 out of 10. Nothing harmful found and some real community work, but there's very little recent public record to go on.
Chris Hanson is a journeyman punter who spent a decade in the NFL. He played for the Packers in 1999, the Dolphins in 2000, then six seasons with the Jaguars from 2001 to 2006, and made the Pro Bowl in 2002. Jacksonville drafted his replacement in 2007, so he bounced to the Saints and then the Patriots.
His most famous moment was a bit of a shocker. His 2003 season ended early because of what the Jaguars called a freakish locker room accident, which other reports link to an axe. He came back with solid seasons in 2004 and 2005, and in 2007 he said of a hamstring injury that he wasn't going to baby it.
On the harm check, we found nothing. No statements about LGBTQ+ people, women, vaccines or the climate turned up, and no campaigning or conspiracy-theory slide. He hasn't been tied to the kind of film or media projects that raise flags. That's a clean sheet, but partly because he isn't much of a public commentator. We can't say what he thinks about anything, only that nothing harmful is on the record.
Nothing recent has turned up on him lately. No news from the past few months, no scandal, no comeback story. We also found no court outcomes or accusations against this Chris Hanson, so don't confuse him with other men of similar name who've been in the headlines.
The good stuff is small-scale but real. In 2002 the Jaguars named him a monthly Community Leader honoree, with a donation made in his name to the Community Asthma Partnership. He'd been volunteering with the group, appearing in a public service announcement and speaking to community groups. He also visited elementary schools, played in charity golf events, and helped at a food distribution on a training camp day off.
So would we support him? Yes, comfortably, with the honest caveat that the file is short. He's a quiet bloke who punted well, got teased about an axe for the rest of his career, and did decent community work. Nothing here would make an LGBTQ+ reader wince.