photo by: Mike Gunnoe/Special to the Journal-World

Kansas senior DeShawn Hanika makes a two-handed catch during practice Thursday, July 24, 2025 in Lawrence.

Kansas football players undoubtedly heard all sorts of things from the sold-out Missouri crowd as they prepared to battle the Tigers on Saturday.

One thing tight end DeShawn Hanika heard was a fan asking him if he even plays.

“To be honest, I love it,” Hanika said. “I heard him. I had my headphone out. I heard him, and to be honest, I wouldn’t want it any other way.”

It might have been a valid question in previous years of his career. Hanika, a seventh-year senior, played 33 combined offensive snaps his first two years at Iowa State after making the move from JUCO ranks. After one season of consistent activity for the Cyclones, he missed 2023 due to a gambling investigation and 2024 at KU due to a season-ending injury.

The Jayhawks’ season opener on Aug. 23 was therefore his first game since Nov. 26, 2022, but there can be no doubt that he does in fact play. The Topeka native has three touchdowns through three games after a career-best performance in the loss to the Tigers: six catches, 74 yards, two scores.

“To be honest, if he didn’t know my name then obviously then I didn’t play, but he knew my name, so it is what it is,” Hanika said.

But Hanika added a moment later, as a postscript: “They won, so he can be happy. They got the win.”

That fact was what stuck with him most in the moments after KU’s defeat on Saturday, not the personal strides he had made, as he offered kudos to Missouri and its fans for the “unbelievable environment.”

“To be honest, I’d give away those two touchdowns for the win,” Hanika said. “I could (not) care less about individual stats. I got to do a better job in getting my room ready to play. I got to do a better job in getting the offense ready to play.”

Hanika said a big part of that will be maximizing the opportunities the rest of the offense creates for its own quarterback, Jalon Daniels, through better blocking.

Daniels was pressured 18 times on Saturday and in those situations went 6-for-14 for 49 yards with a touchdown and an interception. He had not been under pressure that many times since the 2022 Liberty Bowl, a game that went to triple overtime in which he dropped back 61 times.

“Jalon is a hell of a quarterback, as you guys have seen throughout the years, and we as a unit have to do more to give him time to be that special guy,” Hanika said. “I’m going to take a big responsibility on that. My pass blocking wasn’t the greatest today. My chips weren’t the best. So I’m going to take big pride in that coming up, just to keep him on his feet so he can do what he’s here to do.”

When Daniels functioned effectively on Saturday, Hanika was by far his most reliable target. He and Emmanuel Henderson Jr. received six targets apiece, but Hanika caught them all, whereas Henderson dropped a key third-down pass on one occasion and Daniels overthrew him twice.

“DeShawn was able to be put into a lot of situations where he was wide open, and he was able to catch the ball and he had a couple touchdowns tonight,” Daniels said. “But at the end of the day, we still ended up falling up short. So we have to figure out more ways to be able to put the ball in our playmakers’ hands and be able to get more points on the board.”

Even though he’ll have a sour taste in his mouth, Hanika said it was a memorable day regardless as the teams renewed the Border War.

“I’m not a very grateful winner,” Hanika said. “I’m a very sore loser, as I should say. I’m going to take this 12 hours, digest it, watch the film over again probably three times on the way home, figure out how I can be better, but looking down the road, this is a game that I’ll tell my kid about.”

That’s not an abstract prediction, as it might be for some other Jayhawks or Tigers. Hanika’s wife Kate is due later this year.