Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, November 10, 1994 TAG: 9411100067
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: SCOTT BLANCHARD STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: BLACKSBURG LENGTH: Medium
The one-time freshman All-America offensive lineman is now a Virginia Tech reserve. The 6-foot-3, 290-pound Blacksburg resident has been pockmarked by little injuries that have whittled his career from what could have been a formidable sculpture to a tabletop carving.
So he's trying to deal with it.
``When you come to college, I guess everyone's got a dream to go to that next level,'' Hamlin said. ``Not everybody can.
``It was hard to come to terms with it, but it's part of life. Football got me into college, so I had to give football something. To me, that was my No.1 priority. It still is. That scholarship has provided me with an education. [But] my priorities have changed to the fact that I know I've got to get an education and get out of here and get a good job. Now, I'm getting tighter on myself about making my grades.''
Hamlin started three games this year in place of injured Damien McMahon, but Hamlin never was 100 percent healthy, either. A toe he broke in the spring of 1993 still bothers him and still needs occasional painkilling injections. In 1992, doctors shaved off part of his collarbone that was aggravating tissue in his left shoulder, but the joint ``still gives me problems,'' Hamlin said.
But when McMahon sprained a foot Sept.22 against West Virginia, Hamlin became a starter for the first time since his freshman year, when he was in the opening lineup seven times.
``I was feeling better about myself and playing,'' Hamlin said. ``I knew I had to get up and get ready to play. I started getting my confidence back. I had my best practice week of the year before the Temple game [on Oct.8]. Then, that happened.''
Hamlin tore a leg muscle while punting during a light workout. He started but missed most of the Temple game, then started against East Carolina on Oct.15.
``I played, and played terrible,'' Hamlin said. ``I didn't have a leg.''
He still doesn't have two good ones. J.B. Grimes, Tech's offensive line coach, says Hamlin never has been 100 percent since Grimes arrived in January 1993. And a guy USA Today named to its 26-man freshman All-America team in '92 can make only limited contributions to an often-injured, sometimes ineffective offensive line.
Hamlin says he really doesn't know if he'll play much or at all in Tech's 1 p.m. game against Rutgers on Saturday. McMahon returned to the lineup Oct.29 for the Miami game; Hamlin got one snap, on special teams.
``The sad thing about it is they're all legitimate injuries. The kid's hurt,'' Grimes said. ``He's an experienced backup right now. He's a guy that can go into a game and you know you feel good about him assignment-wise, you feel good about him technique-wise. He's smart. He still can go into a game and give you some quality work, because he knows what to do.''
Hamlin just can't do what he wants to do. His weak left shoulder has hampered his weight training; his maximum upper-body lifts are lighter or the same as they were when he was a freshman.
``It gives out,'' he said of his left shoulder. ``It's not a very strong part of my body. And at right guard, that's my inside hand, so that's my power hand. I have more power with my right [hand].''
In '92, Tech head coach Frank Beamer was asked whether Hamlin's early fame might lead to a whatever-happened-to question years later. Beamer said no, that Hamlin was ``everything you're looking for'' in an offensive lineman. Beamer didn't foresee Hamlin acquiring some unsightly scars.
``He doesn't get around as well as he'd like to. He's never been able to get quite as strong as he needed to,'' said Beamer, who was asked if the junior lineman figured to play out his once-rising career as a reserve.
``I never tell a player what he can't do,'' Beamer said.
Right now, Hamlin knows.
``I still can't sprint,'' he said. ``I didn't run the sweep or anything [in practice Monday]. I didn't pull.''
The less he can do on a football field, or the harder it becomes, the more Hamlin thinks about life after college as opposed to football after college. He wants to move back to his native Florida, get a teaching/coaching job and get into the home construction business. Florida, he says, is his real home, although he says he'll never forget people like Dave Crist, the Blacksburg High School coach who helped Hamlin work on his grades to get into Tech.
Hamlin now and then tries to pay a little back, too. During Tech's off week, he gave Blacksburg a locker-room pep talk before its game against Carroll County. Blacksburg won 38-7.
Hamlin hopes he has more on-the-field contributions to make.
``I don't know [if I'll play Saturday],'' he said. ``If I was in there, I'd play till I was taken out.''
by CNB