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Playing the fieldSCOTT CAINARKANSAS DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE
"I was always pushed to the back like, 'Your turn will come,' " Hamlin said. "In eighth grade, I maybe saw the field once or twice -- the whole season. "You're thinking, maybe football isn't my game. I never was the man until my junior and senior years. I guess I liked it so much I stuck with it. I'm glad I didn't give up." So are the Arkansas Razorbacks. Hamlin has taken over the free safety position, succeeding three-year starter Kenoy Kennedy who moved on to the NFL. Hamlin ranks second in tackles with 43, three behind linebacker Quinton Caver, and he will make his fifth start Saturday against Louisiana-Monroe. Not bad for a redshirt freshman, one who finished spring practice as a backup. After assessing the defense's talent during the summer, coaches decided they needed to find a starting position for Hamlin. They moved Corey Harris to rover to make room. "That's been real pleasing for us, not a surprise, but pleasing," co-defensive coordinator John Thompson said of Hamlin's play. "He handles his business out here." Fitting in has meant growing up quickly. On the scout team last season, Hamlin's motor ran so hard that coaches had to tell him to tone it down occasionally against the varsity players. This season Hamlin has played aggressively but under control, Thompson said. He's made some big hits but has not taken cheap shots that would draw penalties, something a young safety trying to impress his coaches might be prone to do. Hamlin knows the schemes, he knows what the coaches expect and he is responsible for making secondary adjustments after reading the offensive alignment. Moving into a starting role as a first-year player is supposed to be a nerve-racking, mind-bending experience. Hamlin said he's having fun on every play. "I guess I worked myself hard enough, and the coaches prepared enough that it has been a smooth transition," Hamlin said. Hamlin intercepted a pass on the first series of the season opener against Southwest Missouri State. Since then, he has established himself as somewhat of an ironman, logging more plays than anybody on defense. His 224 snaps out of a possible 264 don't include his work on the punt protection team. "Of those 224 plays, there's been a lot of consistency there," Thompson said. "There haven't been any plays where you just say, 'Oh, my word. What's he doing?' He practices that way, too ... with intensity. He has great field awareness." Most times. Two incidents during the Alabama week caught Hamlin off guard. While spotting a teammate on a bench press, a 45-pound weight fell off the bar and onto his Hamlin's foot. Incredibly, no bones broke, Hamlin said. But for the pain he experienced they might as well have been broken. Hamlin played through the pain against Alabama. He made 16 tackles, more than Kennedy ever made in a single game, but he also turned loose a defensive tackle who blocked a punt. The Tide had a "safe" return called, meaning the front applied only a token rush while most players dropped back to block for the returner. "You see a big 300-pound guy out there and you're like, 'He's not going to get there,' " Hamlin said. "I got too relaxed. I've made sure that I don't relax again." Hamlin, who's from Memphis, couldn't afford to relax growing up. His family moved a lot. He lived in Virginia, Ohio and Tennessee and changed different addresses within the states, so it seemed like he always was going to a different school. The new guy didn't command the football coach's attention at each school so Hamlin played a little football and watched a lot. Somebody was always ahead of him at his position. Then a strange thing happened. Most of his junior high teammates in Memphis went to East High School, but Hamlin was assigned to Frayser High. "It must have been destiny," Hamlin said. "It helped me a lot. My opportunity was open there." Hamlin earned his first start in football as a junior at free safety. The next season he started at safety and tailback. Hamlin rushed for almost 1,300 yards and 16 touchdowns, made 136 tackles and 8 interceptions and was named the Class 3A player of the year. Frayser Coach Terry Ryan placed a call to Arkansas coaches Houston and Danny Nutt and talked up Hamlin. "I went and saw him play," Danny Nutt said. "When he was at tailback he was outrunning everybody, and when he was at free safety he was knocking everybody down." Hamlin visited Arkansas, Kentucky, Memphis and Alabama before choosing the Razorbacks. A year later, his turn has come and he's making the most of it.
This article was published on Thursday, October 5, 2000RETURN to main pageCopyright and permissions Copyright © 2000, Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, Inc. All rights reserved. This document may not be reprinted without the express written permission of Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, Inc. |
