In three short months Bills 11-year defensive end Phil Hansen will become the 27th member of the Bills Wall of Fame. Gone from the game for almost a decade Hansen is enjoying being a father while still feeding his passion for football.
Hansen and his wife Dianna celebrated the birth of their first child Hope the summer prior to his final season with the Bills in 2001. Set to turn 10 this month his eldest daughter also has a pair of siblings.
"Jillian is a seven-year old and then Ross is my five-year old. None of them really have a clue being so young about what Daddy did I guess, but that's my family."
Living in Detroit Lakes, Minnesota, retirement has given Hansen the freedom to spend time with his kids, though he does still have irons in the fire.
"I have my hands in football so that helps to feed my football fix," he said. "I do color commentary for North Dakota State where I played football on the radio. So I travel with the team during the fall. I host a TV show, a half hour football coach's show during the season."
Hansen also officiates both high school football and basketball to stay close to sports. He also owns a small business.
"I'm probably not doing the same thing every day," said Hansen. "It's not 9-to-5, but I have the opportunity to chase my kids around a little bit."
The former defensive end likely isn't chasing his children around with quite the same ferocity as he did quarterbacks and running backs with the Bills, but he looks forward to showing his young family what he did before they were a part of his life. Hansen will get that chance when he returns to Buffalo for his Wall of Fame ceremony this fall.
"It will be fun to show them what I did in Buffalo," he said. "Just telling them this is where Daddy played and it'll be great to individually do that with my family when I come back. You bet."
