Edging both Carson Wentz and defensive lineman Gary Larsen out, Phil Hansen is the NFL king of North Dakota. Hailing from Oakes, North Dakota, Phil Hansen played his collegiate football in his home state at North Dakota State University where he set regular-season records for most sack (41) and pass break ups (32). Despite starting on two Division II National Championship teams in 1988 and 1990, Hansen was selected 54th overall by the Buffalo Bills in the second round of the 1991 NFL Draft.
The agile defensive end went on to play all eleven seasons of his NFL career with the Buffalo Bills and was an intergal contributor to the team's final two consecutive trips to the Super Bowl from 1992-1994. Surprisingly, Hansen was never able to notch any Pro Bowl honors despite racking up a total of 634 tackles and 61.5 sacks throughout his lengthy career. A little more than decade after retiring in 2001, Hansen ran as a Republican for Minnesota in 2012. Unfortunately, he lost a close race to Kent Eken, but we're positive Hansen wouldn't lose to him on the football field.
Most of your favorite celebrities either studied acting in college or went straight from high school into a life of the arts. But, hey, not all of them. Some celebrities actually have advanced college degrees.
Turns out Mayim Bialik is just as much of a genius as the one she plays on The Big Bang Theory. She earned her Ph.D. in neuroscience from the University of California, Los Angeles, focusing on obsessive compulsive disorder among people with Prader-Willi syndrome, a rare condition in which the hypothalamus malfunctions.
Little known fact: Natalie Portman skipped the premiere of Star Wars: Phantom Menace because she was studying for her high school exams. She had two papers published in scientific journals while she was still in high school, and graduated from Harvard University with a B.A. in Psychology.
Before he was looking for answers on X-Files, David Duchovny was just trying to find the answers for English finals at Princeton University90. David graduated from Princeton in 1982 with a B.A in English. He continued to feed his love of literature by receiving a master’s degree in English Literature at Yale University. David was an excellent writer and poet. His work consistently received praise by his fellow classmates and teachers at Yale. His writing was even nominated for a college prize by the Academy of American Poets.
Sigourney Weaver graduated from Stanford University in 1971 with a bachelor’s in Literature. It was while studying at Stanford that Sigourney realized her true passion in life was to become an actress. Shortly after graduation, she attended Yale for their well-known drama program. She would go on to receive a master’s in Acting from Yale University and become friends with fellow famous actress Meryl Streep.
Meryl Streep is considered one of the most successful actresses of all time. She is also one of the most highly educated. Before collecting an array of Oscars, Meryl collected diplomas. She graduated from Vassar College with a B.A. in 1971. Meryl has a habit of being unsatisfied with impressive accomplishments as her acting career has shown, so she attended Yale University and earned a master’s degree in Acting.