GREEN BAY, Wis. — Javon Hagan was on the way up to the press box at Lambeau Field, ready to watch Sunday’s Bucs-Packers NFC Championship Game from a booth with other practice squad players, when he got word: “It was time to go.”
For the second week in a row, Hagan had been elevated from the practice squad to the Bucs’ roster as an emergency backup, just in case another safety questionable with an injury was unable to go. A week earlier in New Orleans, everyone was healthy, and Hagan was inactive.
But this time, Bucs rookie Antoine Winfield had tested his injured ankle in pregame warmups and wasn’t going to play, which meant Hagan was a last-minute call-up to dress and make his NFL debut on a huge platform, helping on special teams with a Super Bowl spot on the line.
“It shocked me,” said Hagan, 23, an undrafted rookie from Ohio University who has been on the practice squad more than four months, since Sept. 6,…
