Over 2,400 miles separate New York and Seattle. And as rookie defensive end Carl Hansen discovered after the Jets claimed him off of the Seahawks' practice squad in 1998, the difference between the two teams may have been even further.
"It was a very different environment. The Seahawks were a little bit more congenial or lax. The Jets practices were a little bit more intense," said Hansen, who was drafted that year in the sixth round out of Stanford. "I remember my first practice, I showed up and they had put me on the scout kickoff team.
"That was more of a jog-through-give-a-look-thing at Seattle, and I was kind of pre-warned. 'Hey, this is full-go, so don't go out there and just jog through it.' So I ran down as hard as I could and I remember Kyle Brady, the tight end, kind of lit me up. And I was like, 'Okay, so a little bit of a different expectation here.' I tried to get in line as soon as possible."
There was no question that any and all of the expectations were set by New York's Head Coach/General Manager Bill Parcells.
"Parcells was Parcells at the time, and I kind of came in with my own expectations of what that meant. And I was not disappointed or too far off. He was very much a guy who expected things to be done his way," Hansen said. "I was excited about it. It was, what at the time was, an exciting coaching staff. And in hindsight, it has become like a kind of legendary Hall of Fame-type of coaching staff.
"There were a lot of really intelligent, thoughtful, and ambitious people on that staff. Obviously, Bill Belichick is first and foremost. But Al Groh went on to be the head coach of (the University of) Virginia. Eric Mangini became a head coach, my position coach, Romeo Crennel became a head coach, and Todd Haley. The list kind of goes on and on. It was a very professional environment."
Signing with the Jets on October 7, Hansen made his NFL regular-season debut 12 days later in their Week 7 game in New England, where he helped beat the Patriots on Monday Night Football, 24-14.
"It was exciting," Hansen said. "I remember being at the locker and telling myself it was just like any other football game but understanding that it wasn't. And just not wanting to embarrass myself and letting the team down. I think I got through the game without doing anything terrible, and it actually ended up being a really good experience."
Hansen would play in the next four games, three of them victories and the loss was by one point to Indianapolis, helping contribute to a 12-4 record and a berth in the AFC Championship Game against Denver.
"I'd been playing tackle football since I was six years old," Hansen said. "I grew up in Texas, and it always continued to amaze me how professional or refined the game would become.
"You think you are playing at a really high-level football in high school, and then you go to college and you're like, 'Oh, okay, well, there's another level to this.' You proceed through college and have some success and kind of think you know what you're doing. Then go to the NFL, and there's another level to it.
"And then you go from one team in the NFL to another team and you see the difference in the environment between one team to another, and you're like, 'Wow, just another level again of a game I thought I knew pretty well.'"
After spending time with the Packers in 1999 and with the Giants in 2000, Hansen spent the 2001 season playing in the XFL for the San Francisco Demons.
He chose to stay in the Bay Area following football, took up rugby and played on the U.S. National Team for two years, and then would make his way to commercial real estate.
"I went to law school and decided I did not want to be an attorney," Hansen said. "Having second thoughts, I just started talking to other people in my network that I thought had similar backgrounds and mindset, expectations for the lifestyle that I did, and I kept coming back to real estate.
"I had a couple people put me in touch with a couple of different firms, and I interviewed probably 20 times at different shops all around the city. I ended up at CBRE, and I've never looked back."
With CBRE since 2002, Hansen is an Executive Vice President.
"I'm based in San Francisco, but we represent companies globally. They tend to be Bay Area-based companies that have headquarters here, and then we'll help manage their portfolios globally," Hansen said.
"I'm on the tenant or the occupier side. So technology companies, where they are buying office buildings or leasing office buildings, I'm helping do all the background work and then turning the spaces and negotiating the leases and doing the financial analysis and everything else. So at the very most basic level, I'm helping people find somewhere to work.
"I get really early exposure to some pretty fascinating, interesting people and companies. I am working with a lot of young AI founders. And given, I'm not helping them build their business or anything, but you get a glimpse into the people and the companies and what they're doing. So that's always really fun and fascinating."
Making their home in the Bay Area, Hansen and his wife, Susan, who is the general counsel of the software company, Liftoff, have three children.
Twins, Jack and Cate are juniors in high school, and both play football. Jack is an offensive and defensive lineman, and Cate is a wide receiver and safety on the flag football team. And they have a six-year-old sister, Charlotte.
