David Hampton (born May 7, 1947) is a former professional

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team wi ...

running back A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive handoffs from the quarterback to rush the ball, to line up as a receiver to catch the ball, and block. Ther ...

in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

(NFL) for the Green Bay Packers, Atlanta Falcons, and

Philadelphia Eagles The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia. The Eagles compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. The team play ...

College career

Hampton was part of a star-studded backfield which helped

Wyoming Wyoming () is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is bordered by Montana to the north and northwest, South Dakota and Nebraska to the east, Idaho to the west, Utah to the southwest, and Colorado to the s ...

post a regular season record in

1967 Events January * January 1 – Canada begins a year-long celebration of the 100th anniversary of Confederation, featuring the Expo 67 World's Fair. * January 5 ** Spain and Romania sign an agreement in Paris, establishing full consular and ...

and a number six national ranking. They played

LSU Louisiana State University (officially Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as LSU) is a public land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The university was founded in 1860 near ...

in the Sugar Bowl and led after the first half, but lost Other future pros in Wyoming's backfield that season included senior Jim Kiick, who was part of two Super Bowl championship teams with the

Miami Dolphins The Miami Dolphins are a professional American football team based in the Miami metropolitan area. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member team of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. The team p ...

, and

Vic Washington Victor Arnold Washington (March 23, 1946 – December 31, 2008) was an American football running back and kick returner. After attending the University of Wyoming, he played nine professional seasons, three in the Canadian Football League (CFL) a ...

, who helped the

San Francisco 49ers The San Francisco 49ers (also written as the San Francisco Forty-Niners) are a professional American football team based in the San Francisco Bay Area. The 49ers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National ...

win three consecutive

NFC West The National Football Conference - Western Division or NFC West is one of the four divisions of the National Football Conference (NFC) in the National Football League (NFL). It currently has four members: the Arizona Cardinals, the Los Ang ...

division titles

Professional career

Hampton was selected by the Green Bay Packers in the ninth round of the

1969 NFL/AFL Draft The 1969 National Football League draft was part of the common draft, the third and final year in which the NFL and American Football League (AFL) held a joint draft of college players. The draft took place January 28–29, 1969. The draft be ...

in late in what turned out to be general manager

Vince Lombardi Vincent Thomas Lombardi (June 11, 1913 – September 3, 1970) was an American football coach and executive in the National Football League (NFL). Lombardi is considered by many to be the greatest coach in football history, and he is recognized a ...

's last official function with the club before becoming

coach Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process ** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers Transportation * Co ...

and

general manager A general manager (GM) is an executive who has overall responsibility for managing both the revenue and cost elements of a company's income statement, known as profit & loss (P&L) responsibility. A general manager usually oversees most or all of ...

of the

Washington Redskins The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) N ...

the Hampton was expected to fill the shoes of retired legends Jim Taylor and

Paul Hornung Paul Vernon Hornung (December 23, 1935 – November 13, 2020), nicknamed "the Golden Boy", was an American professional football player who was a Hall of Fame running back for the Green Bay Packers of the National Football League (NFL) from 195 ...

, but in three years with Green Bay, he, along with the rest of the Packers' aging offense, struggled. His best success came with the Atlanta Falcons, where he was traded prior to the

1972 Within the context of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) it was the longest year ever, as two leap seconds were added during this 366-day year, an event which has not since been repeated. (If its start and end are defined using mean solar tim ...

season. In his first year with the team, Hampton surpassed the 1,000-yard rushing yard mark during the Falcons' final game of the season against the

Kansas City Chiefs The Kansas City Chiefs are a professional American football team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Chiefs compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The ...

. As part of a planned celebration for the Falcons' first 1,000-yard rushing season, the game was paused as Hampton was presented with a trophy and the game ball for his accomplishment. However, he was tackled for a six-yard loss on the following play and ended the season with 995 yards. In

1973 Events January * January 1 - The United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland and Denmark 1973 enlargement of the European Communities, enter the European Economic Community, which later becomes the European Union. * January 15 – Vietnam War: ...

, he had another chance to get a 1,000-yard rushing season, but he ended up three yards shy. After missing most of the 1974 season due to injury, he rushed for 1,002 yards in 1975 and received the

NFL Comeback Player of the Year Award The National Football League Comeback Player of the Year Award refers to a number of awards that are given to a National Football League (NFL) player who has shown perseverance in overcoming adversity, in the form of not being in the NFL the previo ...

. Hampton was traded from the Falcons to the

for a 1978 tenth-round pick (257th overall–

Ricky Patton Ricky Patton (born April 6, 1954) is a former professional American football player who played running back for five seasons for the Atlanta Falcons, Green Bay Packers, and San Francisco 49ers The San Francisco 49ers (also written as the San ...

) and cash on October 5, 1976. He had lost playing time to rookies Bubba Bean and

Sonny Collins Alfred Eugene "Sonny" Collins (born January 17, 1953) is a former American football running back who played in the National Football League (NFL). He was drafted by the Atlanta Falcons in the second round of the 1976 NFL draft. He played coll ...

, but was going to a team needing running backs due to injuries.McGowen, Deane. "People in Sports," ''The New York Times'', Wednesday, October 6, 1976.
Retrieved November 24, 2020

References

External links

* 1947 births Living people Players of American football from Akron, Ohio American football running backs Wyoming Cowboys football players Green Bay Packers players Atlanta Falcons players Philadelphia Eagles players {{Runningback-1940s-stub