2010 Spotlight on: Jakar Hamilton
By Editorial Staff
By now most Dawg fans have heard the stories of a young Knoshon Moreno playing tag and never getting caught at recess in grammar school. There are no shortage of playground legend stories about Jakar Hamilton. He could run fast. So fast in fact that he left a hole in the ground as he took off in sprints. He could hit…and hit hard and he scored about everytime he touched the ball.
Hamilton as a youngster was a bit of a drifter you could say. For a time as a child he once lived in a New Jersey project. He then bounced around between S. Carolina and Texas a few times.
Strom Thurmond HS in Edgefield, S. Carolina is where Hamilton finally settled for his final 2 years of Friday night football. Edgefield is more well known for its Ten Governors than its football heroes.
As a 7th grader when spotted playing Rec football by his eventual High School coach Lee Sawyer, the legendary tales began.
"“You could tell he was special the first time I laid eyes on him,” said Sawyer. I’m thinking, ‘Holy cow.’ “He was one of those in rec ball where you could just tell, this guy is at a whole different level.”"
At the end of last summer, Hamilton had grown into an elite prospect once more due to his work at Georgia Military College. In HS, most college coaches were scared away as Hamilton’s transcripts looked more like a bad set of stereo instructions. Clemson and S. Carolina were interested but quickly stopped calling once they saw crucial core classes were missing from the transition from Texas and then Hamilton suffered a foot injury late in his Senior season and didn’t play in any HS All-star games.
That was then, this is now. By the time last summer had ended, Hamilton had almost all the elite SEC schools hot on his trail.
"Sawyer said Alabama head coach Nick Saban told him Hamilton was the best defensive back prospect he had seen in the Southeast."
After Hamilton played 2 years at Georgia Military and made All-America his sophmore year, he was a big time recruit once again. Hamilton decided he would go to Georgia. He was tired of moving around and loved the atmosphere in Athens during his visits.
Hamilton now has a good chance to start for the Dogs at safety alongside Baccari Rambo and Nick Williams. His work has been noted at practice not just by coaches, but by his peers as well.
“He might not know this, but I’ll be watching him play, and it motivates me to go harder,” Rambo said. “I see him flying to the ball. I say, I gotta fly to the ball. It just pushes me. I’d like to see him play.”
His work ethic has never been in doubt. He made the switch to safety only 2 years ago having never played the position. He took to the position like he was born to play it. He constantly watches film on some of the legendary DBs of the NFL like Brian Dawkins,Ed Reed, or the late Sean Taylor. “I still watch film.”
“I feel with my speed and my ability to move my hips, I could try to work and be like those three guys.” Hamilton has one intangible that is instilled in most safeties. He loves to hit. At Georgia Military, he picked up the nickname: “The Hitman”. His hits at Georgia Military College often made fans gasp and cringe and Dog fans hope they see him deliver some blows to the SEC this year.
“Hopefully I just keep doing what I’m doing, get in my playbook, show the coaches I want to start,” Hamilton said. “I really want to start. I’ll do anything to do it.”
Special thanks to Seth Emerson of the Macon Telegraph for his huge contribution to this story. www.macon.com
Leash Laws
Head Coach Mark Richt shortened practice yesterday and was poleased with the effort he got from his team. “We shortened it a little bit hoping to get a high level of energy, and we got it,” Richt said Wednesday after a session lasting roughly 90 minutes. “I was pleased with the effort and the energy. When you adjust a practice like that, you hope the players will respond, and that’s exactly what they did.”
“We were able to hit a little bit of everything today. We ended it with the 1-minute drill. With young quarterbacks, you want them to get that experience. We also did a lot of fundamental work, and the guys were very sound.”
Richt said the number of injured player was down as well. “That’s a blessing,” Richt said. “The strength staff did a great job getting the guys ready for camp, and the guys did a great job of working hard to be in shape when they got here. Having more one-a-days and more teaching time is also paying off.”
The Dogs will have a special teams practice today and another shortened practice Friday before their second scrimmage of the year Saturday at Sanford Stadium.
Offensive coordinator Mike Bobo was pretty critical of Aaron Murray’s performance in Tuesday’s scrimmage: “I was a little disappointed,” Bobo said after Wednesday’s practice. “I thought we didn’t trust the pocket. A bonehead decision in the red zone, throwing it up for grabs.”
Murray completed 12 of 21 passes for 237 yards with two touchdowns and an interception on a pass picked off by freshman safety Alec Ogletree.