Lynell Hamilton (born August 5, 1985) is a former

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 ...

who has most recently worked as a graduate assistant at

San Diego State University San Diego State University (SDSU) is a public research university in San Diego, California. Founded in 1897 as San Diego Normal School, it is the third-oldest university and southernmost in the 23-member California State University (CSU) system ...

. He was signed by the

New Orleans Saints The New Orleans Saints are a professional American football team based in New Orleans. The Saints compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. Since 1975, the te ...

as an

undrafted free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

in 2008. He played college football at

San Diego State San Diego State University (SDSU) is a public research university in San Diego, California. Founded in 1897 as San Diego Normal School, it is the third-oldest university and southernmost in the 23-member California State University (CSU) system ...

Early career

Hamilton attended Edison High School in Stockton, where he was ranked as one of the country's top running back prospects.New Orleans Saints bio
for Lynell Hamilton (accessed August 11, 2010).Jason Anderson
"Through setbacks, Lynell Hamilton persevered to reach Super Bowl"
'' The Record'', February 7, 2010.

College career

In 2003, Hamilton had an outstanding freshman year at San Diego State, rushing for 1,087 yards in 10 games. He was named

Mountain West Conference The Mountain West Conference (MW) is one of the collegiate athletic conferences affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) (formerly I-A). The MW officially began operations ...

Freshman of the Year. He suffered a severe ankle and leg injury in the tenth game of the season, and sat out the following year. As a redshirt sophomore in 2005, he led the Aztecs in rushing with 819 yards and 9 touchdowns. The rest of his career was hampered by knee injuries, and he had only 56 carries for 146 yards during his last two years. For his college career, Hamilton had 480 carries for 2,052 yards and 14 rushing touchdowns, and 57 passes caught for 360 yards and 3 touchdowns.

Professional career

Hamilton was on the New Orleans Saints practice squad for most of 2008, and played in only three games. In 2009 he served as the fourth

for the Saints behind Pierre Thomas,

Reggie Bush Reginald Alfred Bush Jr. (born March 2, 1985) is an American former football running back who now serves as an on-air college football analyst for Fox Sports. He played college football at USC, where he earned consensus All-American honors twi ...

, and Mike Bell. He finished the regular season with a total of 125 rushing yards and 2 touchdowns; he also scored a touchdown in the Saints' first playoff game on their way to winning

Super Bowl XLIV Super Bowl XLIV was an American football game between the National Football Conference (NFC) champions New Orleans Saints and the American Football Conference (AFC) champions Indianapolis Colts to decide the National Football League (NFL) champ ...

. He was expected to fill a more important role in 2010, but on August 11, 2010, during a preseason joint practice session with the New England Patriots, he suffered a knee injury (later confirmed to be an ACL tear) that was expected to end Hamilton's season. He was "waived/injured" by the Saints on August 14, and after clearing waivers he was placed on the

injured reserve list The injured reserve list ( IR list) is a designation used in North American professional sports leagues for athletes who suffer injuries and become unable to play. The exact name of the list varies by league; it is known as "injured reserve" in th ...

on August 16. He was waived on August 4, 2011 during training camp. After his playing career ended, he returned to San Diego State as a

graduate assistant A graduate assistant serves in a support role at a university, usually while completing post-graduate education. The assistant typically helps professors with instructional responsibilities as teaching assistants or with academic research respo ...

.Tod Leonar
"Aztecs grad assistants do football's grunt work: Alums Hamilton, Deakin contribute with their love of football"
'' U-T San Diego'', August 12, 2012.

References

External links

New Orleans Saints bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hamilton, Lynell 1985 births Living people Players of American football from Stockton, California American football running backs San Diego State Aztecs football players New Orleans Saints players