Harry Edwin Hamilton (born November 29, 1962) 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 ...

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. Hamilton was the first Black African-American to graduate from John S. Fine High School, Nanticoke, Pennsylvania.

Early life

His father Stan Hamilton was a civil rights activist in New York in the 1960s and a writer of

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. In 1972, the family moved to a horse farm owned by Stan Hamilton and his father-in-law, after a flood damaged their house in

Wilkes-Barre Wilkes-Barre ( or ) is a city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Luzerne County. Located at the center of the Wyoming Valley in Northeastern Pennsylvania, it had a population of 44,328 in the 2020 census. It is the s ...

. They were the only black people in the area and Hamilton suffered abuse at school, being called racial slurs and seeing a burning cross on a bonfire during a football pep rally. He set several track records at school and proved to be an adept Western-style horse rider and football player. After graduating, the family moved back to Wilkes-Barre.

Football career

Having graduated with honors, he was recruited by a number of colleges for his excellence in academics and athletics before selecting Penn State. During his collegiate career, he was an Academic All-American safety at Penn State University following the 1982 National Championship season and 1983 seasons. After which, he played eight seasons as a safety in the National Football League with the New York Jets and Tampa Bay Buccaneers before retiring in 1993.

Post-football career

During his professional football career, Hamilton attended law school and immediately put his Juris Doctor degree to work for legal services in

Tampa, Florida Tampa () is a city on the Gulf Coast of the United States, Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. The city's borders include the north shore of Tampa Bay and the east shore of Old Tampa Bay. Tampa is the largest city in the Tampa Bay area and ...

before embarking on a career in the

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. In March 2018, Hamilton was charged with a number of offenses including burglary, criminal trespassing, a misdemeanor count of simple assault and two summary offenses of harassment after he confronted his son about drug abuse. He was also accused of forcing his way into his ex-wife's home and assaulting his son. Hamilton was arraigned and released on $25,000 unsecured bail.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hamilton, Harry 1962 births Living people Sportspeople from the Bronx Players of American football from New York City American football safeties New York Jets players Tampa Bay Buccaneers players Penn State Nittany Lions football players Ed Block Courage Award recipients