Hank Baskett Biography

Henry Randall "Hank" Baskett III (born September 4, 1982) is a former American football wide receiver who played in the National Football League for the Minnesota Vikings, Philadelphia Eagles and Indianapolis Colts.

A native of Clovis, New Mexico, Baskett played college football for the University of New Mexico. As a college football player, Baskett was a leading wide receiver and earned all-academic honors all his years at New Mexico and All-Mountain West Conference honors in his senior season.

In 2006, Baskett signed with the Minnesota Vikings as a rookie undrafted free agent and was traded that season to the Philadelphia Eagles. Baskett completed his rookie season with the Eagles with 22 receptions for an average of 20.1 yards per catch and two touchdowns. In 2009, Baskett joined the Indianapolis Colts. He returned to the Eagles in 2010, but was released and signed with the Vikings.

Baskett married Playboy model Kendra Wilkinson in 2009. Wilkinson and Baskett were co-stars on Kendra, a reality TV series following Wilkinson's life from 2009 to 2011. They have co-starred on another show, Kendra on Top, since June 2012.

Early years

Baskett was born and raised in Clovis, New Mexico. Baskett's parents are Henry Randall "Hank" Baskett, Jr., who worked for the Air Force before becoming director of a social service program, and Judy Baskett, who works as a financial officer at Cannon Air Force Base in Clovis.

He attended Clovis High School. He lettered in football, basketball, and track. In track, Baskett held a state-record leap of in high jump at the 2000 state track meet in Albuquerque. In football, he was an all-state selection as both a wide receiver and as a punter. He graduated in 2001 with a 4.0 GPA.

College career

When Baskett attended the University of New Mexico, he was its football team's leading receiver in 2004 and 2005, earning him the Reese Leroy Hill Memorial Award as the team's Offensive Player of the Year during those years. Additionally, he earned All-Mountain West Conference (MWC) honors as a senior, posting 67 receptions for 1,071 yards and nine touchdowns. A four-time all-academic MWC honoree, he graduated with a degree in General Management.

Professional career

First stint with Vikings

Baskett originally signed with the Minnesota Vikings as a rookie undrafted free agent in 2006 and was traded to the Philadelphia Eagles in exchange for wide receiver Billy McMullen.

First stint with Eagles

Baskett had 112 receiving yards and one touchdown against the Dallas Cowboys and 177 receiving yards and one touchdown against the Atlanta Falcons. For his performance in these games, Baskett was awarded rookie of the week honors. He completed his rookie season with 22 receptions for 464 yards (21.1 yards per catch) and two touchdowns. He was named the 2007 special teams Most Valuable Player (MVP).

In 2008, he started another six games, playing in 16 to record 33 receptions, 440 yards, and three touchdowns for a 13.3-yard average.

He headed into the 2009 offseason as a restricted free agent. He was tendered a one-year contract on February 23. Because the Eagles had been carrying seven wide receivers, he was made expendable and released on September 15, 2009, to make room for Michael Vick on the 53-man roster.

Indianapolis Colts

On September 17, 2009, Baskett signed a one-year contract with the Indianapolis Colts after Anthony Gonzalez suffered a knee injury. On February 7, 2010, during Super Bowl XLIV versus the New Orleans Saints, Baskett failed to corral an onside kick at the start of the second half, which led to a Saints touchdown. New Orleans won the game 31-17. The next day, February 8, 2010, Baskett was released by the Colts.

Second stint with Eagles

On March 12, 2010, Baskett signed a one-year contract with the Philadelphia Eagles for $800,000. He was released on September 21, 2010.

Second stint with Vikings

On September 22, 2010, Baskett re-signed with the Minnesota Vikings. He played in eight games in 2010, mostly on special teams, with one reception. On March 3, 2011, he was not extended a tender by the Vikings, making him an unrestricted free agent, but effectively ending his NFL career.

NFL statistics

Year	Team	Games	Receptions	Targets	Yards	Yards per Reception	Longest Reception	Touchdowns	First Downs	Fumbles	Fumbles Lost	Onside Kick Recoveries
2006	PHI	16	22	42	464	21.1	89	2	17	0	0	0
2007	PHI	16	16	22	142	8.9	25	1	5	0	0	0
2008	PHI	15	33	52	440	13.3	90	3	22	1	0	0
2009	PHI	1	1	2	6	6.0	6	0	0	0	0	0
2009	IND	11	4	10	28	7.0	9	0	1	0	0	0
2010	MIN	6	1	4	18	18.0	18	0	1	0	0	0
Career		65	77	132	1,098	14.3	90	6	46	1	0	0

Source:

Reality television

Baskett co-stars in a spinoff of The Girls Next Door, titled Kendra, which focuses on his wife Kendra Wilkinson's life after leaving the Playboy Mansion. The Girls Next Door executive producer Kevin Burns serves in the same capacity on the series. The show premiered on June 7, 2009, and had record-breaking numbers for E! with 2.6 million viewers, the highest-rated reality debut for the network since 2002's premiere of The Anna Nicole Show. E! ordered eight episodes. Season 2 ran from March 14 until June 8, 2010. The show was renewed once more, and the third season began airing in November 2010. The fourth season of the show premiered September 2011. The show has ended its run on E! and has now become Kendra on Top which began airing on WE tv on Tuesday, June 5, 2012. Season 2 ran from September to November 2013 and season 3 ran from October to November 2014.

Personal life

Baskett proposed to his girlfriend, Playboy model Kendra Wilkinson, on top of the Space Needle after six months of knowing each other. They married on June 27, 2009, at the Playboy Mansion. The couple have a son together, Henry Randall "Hank" Baskett IV (born December 11, 2009) and live in Los Angeles. In October 2013, the couple announced they were expecting their second child; in December of same year, they announced it will be a girl. Kendra gave birth to a baby girl who they named Alijah Mary Baskett on May 16, 2014.

Baskett has been a resident of Voorhees Township, New Jersey.

In popular culture

In the novel, The Silver Linings Playbook by Matthew Quick, central character Pat Peoples was given Baskett's Philadelphia Eagles number 84 jersey as a present. Over the 2006-07 season, Baskett became Peoples's favorite player and, for Christmas, he received an autographed picture of Baskett.