Andrew Hawkins had a long and winding road to get to the NFL.

Hawkins, a 5-foot-7 slot receiver, went undrafted out of Toledo in 2008. He tried out for the Browns in training camp, didn't make the team and wound up sitting out the 2008 season. Hawkins came back to football the following year, only he did so with the Montreal Alouettes of the Canadian Football League. While under contract, he competed in Michael Irvin's reality show "Fourth and Long" in an attempt to win a roster spot with the Dallas Cowboys. He finished as the runner-up and ultimately spent two years with the Alouttes.

In early 2011, Hawkins finally made his way back to the NFL. He signed a contract with the then-St. Louis Rams in January and worked with the team through the offseason program. Early in training camp, though, Hawkins was cut. That same day, the Bengals claimed him off waivers, and Hawkins has stuck in the league ever since.

Given his circuitous path, one might think that the NFL was the only thing ever on Hawkins' mind once he made it to the league. But that's not true. Hawkins made time in his schedule to go to graduate school at Columbia University, where he has now earned a master's degree in sports management.

He graduated Monday with a 4.0 GPA.

Mission Accomplished kids. I'm the Master. @columbia 🎓🎓 A post shared by Andrew Hawkins (@hawk) on May 13, 2017 at 8:01am PDT

Congratulations rolled in from all over the NFL world.

The congrats are obviously incredibly well deserved. This is just an awesome accomplishment.