Posted on 07/26/2012 by Tom Orsborn
IRVING – As a star defensive end at Dallas Carter, Adrian Hamilton dreamed of playing safety in college.
“I thought I was the best athlete around,” he said Thursday. “I thought I had enough athletic ability to play safety.”
Fortunately for Hamilton, then-Carter coach Allen Wilson set him straight, telling him he needed to stay at the line of scrimmage, where he could continue to torment overmatched offensive tackles.
“He just ripped past them because of his speed,” Wilson said.
That was also the case at Prairie View A&M, where Hamilton led the nation as a senior last year with 20.5 sacks, eclipsing the Southwestern Athletic Conference record previously held by Colts end Robert Mathis.
The 6-foot-3, 251-pound Hamilton’s skill at getting to the quarterback has him in the running for a job with the Dallas Cowboys as an undrafted rookie at outside linebacker.
“You can see in the workouts we’ve had he does have some athletic ability,” coach Jason Garrett said in May. “He chases the ball well, has some natural pass rush moves and seems to have some capability to drop in coverage.”
And he isn’t easily discouraged, a fact underscored by his circuitous journey to the Cowboys.
Rivals.com ranked Hamilton as the country’s No. 51 linebacker prospect coming out of Carter in 2006. He signed a letter of intent with Oklahoma State but changed his mind after learning the Cowboys wanted him to “gray shirt,” meaning he wouldn’t receive a scholarship for that year.
Rather than stick it out in Stillwater, Hamilton sat out a year before transferring to Texas Tech as a walk-on. After playing sparingly for the Red Raiders and failing to secure a scholarship, he enrolled at Dallas Community College, where he spent two years away from football focusing on academics.
“I just had to grow up and get a lot of things right, make sure my grades stayed right and just make sure I stayed humble and kept working,” Hamilton, 24, said. “I never lost the love of football. Things just weren’t going well. I couldn’t find a scholarship…It was pretty tough on me. But there’s always an opportunity waiting to happen and you just have to seize it.”
Hamilton wanted to land at either Texas A&M or Houston, but he wound up at Prairie View A&M after a professor he’d known since childhood suggested he attend a historically black school, according to NCAA.com. Although the decision likely cost him a shot at being drafted, he’s glad he made it.
“I have no regrets because of the end result,” he said. “I stayed with the journey and I am here…It’s a great opportunity. To be on a Texas team in my hometown, you got to love it.”
As an added bonus, he gets to learn from Pro Bowl linebacker DeMarcus Ware, who recently offered some tips during a film session.
“Oh, it’s been a dream come true,” Hamilton said. “Just watching him as a kid, as a high schooler, how he moves, getting sacks. As a fellow pass rusher, you have to admire someone who can do what he’s done at this level.”
Wilson, who attended Thursday’s practice, said he’s proud of Hamilton for not giving up.
“He had that attitude, that dream and goal, and just kept fighting until he got to where he’s at,” Wilson said. “Those intangibles are going to help him. You give him an opportunity and he is going to make the most of it.”
IRVING – As a star defensive end at Dallas Carter, Adrian Hamilton dreamed of playing safety in college.
“I thought I was the best athlete around,” he said Thursday. “I thought I had enough athletic ability to play safety.”
Fortunately for Hamilton, then-Carter coach Allen Wilson set him straight, telling him he needed to stay at the line of scrimmage, where he could continue to torment overmatched offensive tackles.
“He just ripped past them because of his speed,” Wilson said.
That was also the case at Prairie View A&M, where Hamilton led the nation as a senior last year with 20.5 sacks, eclipsing the Southwestern Athletic Conference record previously held by Colts end Robert Mathis.
The 6-foot-3, 251-pound Hamilton’s skill at getting to the quarterback has him in the running for a job with the Dallas Cowboys as an undrafted rookie at outside linebacker.
“You can see in the workouts we’ve had he does have some athletic ability,” coach Jason Garrett said in May. “He chases the ball well, has some natural pass rush moves and seems to have some capability to drop in coverage.”
And he isn’t easily discouraged, a fact underscored by his circuitous journey to the Cowboys.
Rivals.com ranked Hamilton as the country’s No. 51 linebacker prospect coming out of Carter in 2006. He signed a letter of intent with Oklahoma State but changed his mind after learning the Cowboys wanted him to “gray shirt,” meaning he wouldn’t receive a scholarship for that year.
Rather than stick it out in Stillwater, Hamilton sat out a year before transferring to Texas Tech as a walk-on. After playing sparingly for the Red Raiders and failing to secure a scholarship, he enrolled at Dallas Community College, where he spent two years away from football focusing on academics.
“I just had to grow up and get a lot of things right, make sure my grades stayed right and just make sure I stayed humble and kept working,” Hamilton, 24, said. “I never lost the love of football. Things just weren’t going well. I couldn’t find a scholarship…It was pretty tough on me. But there’s always an opportunity waiting to happen and you just have to seize it.”
Hamilton wanted to land at either Texas A&M or Houston, but he wound up at Prairie View A&M after a professor he’d known since childhood suggested he attend a historically black school, according to NCAA.com. Although the decision likely cost him a shot at being drafted, he’s glad he made it.
“I have no regrets because of the end result,” he said. “I stayed with the journey and I am here…It’s a great opportunity. To be on a Texas team in my hometown, you got to love it.”
As an added bonus, he gets to learn from Pro Bowl linebacker DeMarcus Ware, who recently offered some tips during a film session.
“Oh, it’s been a dream come true,” Hamilton said. “Just watching him as a kid, as a high schooler, how he moves, getting sacks. As a fellow pass rusher, you have to admire someone who can do what he’s done at this level.”
Wilson, who attended Thursday’s practice, said he’s proud of Hamilton for not giving up.
“He had that attitude, that dream and goal, and just kept fighting until he got to where he’s at,” Wilson said. “Those intangibles are going to help him. You give him an opportunity and he is going to make the most of it.”
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