John Hannah

John Hannah
Pro Football Hall of Fame

John Hannah - Sports Illustrated

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Biography

When people think of John Hannah, they naturally think of a winner on the football field. Having been inducted into both the NFL Hall of Fame and The College Football Hall of Fame, as well as being called The Best Offensive Lineman of All Time by Sports Illustrated; speaks volumes about his success as a football player. However, most do not realize John’s success as a businessman.

John Hannah grew up in an entrepreneurial environment. When a young boy, his father Herb Hannah started Hannah Supply Company using 150 square feet of borrowed space and turned it into the largest wholesale distributor of agricultural supplies in the southeast. Before his father sold the company to the employees, John had done everything from janitorial work to managing the equipment division.

In 1983, John moved to the Boston area where he worked the off-seasons with the investment banking firm of L.F. Rothschild, Unterberg, and Tobin. While at Rothschild, Mr. Hannah gained a full range of experiences within the firm while participating in institutional and retail sales, the over‐the‐counter trading desk, and pension consulting.

After retiring from the NFL, Mr. Hannah soon followed his father’s example by founding The Hannah Group. Starting the company in 1988 with only two clients and $37 million under advisement, John used his creativity and entrepreneurship to establish a new niche in public pension fund investment services. His strategic problem solving abilities, his organizational development and his team building expertise, along with his capabilities of persuasion and motivation allowed him to seize the initiative through alternative strategies and build a $2 billion-in-assets investment consulting firm that serviced many of the largest public and Taft‐Hartley defined benefit pension plans.

Having achieved success not only on the football field, but also in the business world, Mr. Hannah is able to draw from these varied experiences to share real life insights and experiences involving motivation, teambuilding, and leadership. Not only does John Hannah capture the minds of his audience through his home spun personality, but his open and frank insights, gained from both successes and failures, earns him the respect of his audience because they realize he is a man of integrity who is a doer and not merely a talker.

EDUCATION

“His leadership, motivation, and desire to academically achieve separated him from his fellow students. John's thoughts on these topics would be beneficial to those who desire to attain success in their future endeavors.”

Paul A. Squarcia - Vice-President and Dean (retired) / Endicott College