Joseph Fitzgerald Hamilton (born March 13, 1977) is a former American college and professional football player who was a

quarterback The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Ame ...

in three different professional leagues. He played college football for the Georgia Institute of Technology, earned All-American recognition and won several national awards. After his playing career ended, Hamilton became an administrator and coach. He has served as the running backs coach for

Georgia State University Georgia State University (Georgia State, State, or GSU) is a public research university in Atlanta, Georgia. Founded in 1913, it is one of the University System of Georgia's four research universities. It is also the largest institution of hig ...

and currently works in the recruiting department for his alma mater, Georgia Tech.

College career

Hamilton accepted an

athletic scholarship An athletic scholarship is a form of scholarship to attend a college or university or a private high school awarded to an individual based predominantly on his or her ability to play in a sport. Athletic scholarships are common in the United ...

to attend Georgia Tech, where he played for the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets football team from 1996 to 1999. He set Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) career records for total offense (10,640 yards), touchdown passes (65) and total touchdowns (83). As a senior in 1999, he was recognized as a consensus first-team All-American, won the Davey O'Brien Award, and was a finalist for the Heisman Trophy, finishing as the runner-up in the Heisman voting behind

Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...

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 ...

Ron Dayne Ronald Dayne (born March 14, 1978) is a former professional American football running back who played in the National Football League (NFL) for eight seasons. Dayne played college football for the University of Wisconsin and won the 1999 Heisma ...

. In 2002, he was named as one of the fifty members of the ACC 50th Anniversary Football Team. Hamilton was elected to the College Football Hall of Fame in 2014.

Professional career

Due to his lack of prototypical height for an NFL quarterback (standing just 5'10"/1.78 m), he fell to the 7th round of the

2000 NFL Draft The 2000 NFL Draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur U.S. college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The draft was held April 15– 16, 2000, at the Thea ...

before being drafted by the

Tampa Bay Buccaneers The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are a professional American football team based in Tampa, Florida. The Buccaneers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. The cl ...

. In three years with the Buccaneers he only played four downs in a single regular-season game. In 2002, the Buccaneers allocated Hamilton to NFL Europe, where he led the Frankfurt Galaxy to 5-2 record in 2002 before suffering a torn ACL. He spent the entire

2002 NFL season The 2002 NFL season was the 83rd regular season of the National Football League. The league went back to an even number of teams with the addition of the Houston Texans; the league has remained static with 32 teams since. The clubs were real ...

on injured reserve and was released by the Buccaneers at the end of the season. He received a

Super Bowl ring The Super Bowl ring is an award in the National Football League given to the team members of the winning team of the league's annual championship game, the Super Bowl. Since only one Vince Lombardi Trophy is awarded to the team (ownership) itsel ...

following the Buccaneers' victory in Super Bowl XXXVII. He signed with the Arena Football League's Orlando Predators in 2004 and guided the team to a 9-5 record and the playoffs, despite suffering another knee injury and missing two and a half games. He was then signed by the Indianapolis Colts in 2004, reuniting with former Buccaneers coach

Tony Dungy Anthony Kevin Dungy ( ; born October 6, 1955) is an American former football safety and coach who served as a head coach in the National Football League (NFL) for 13 seasons with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Indianapolis Colts. Dungy's teams be ...

, but only saw limited action in one game before being released during the season. He returned to the

Orlando Predators The Orlando Predators were a professional arena football team based in Orlando, Florida and member of the Arena Football League (AFL). The team was most recently owned by Orlando Predators LLC, a company owned by David A. Siegel, and played its ...

where he was the starting quarterback through the 2006 season. He has a 32-15 record as the Predators' starter and led them to

ArenaBowl XX ArenaBowl XX, held on Sunday, June 11, 2006, was played to determine the championship of the 2006 season of the Arena Football League (AFL). For the second consecutive year, the game was played at the neutral site of the Thomas & Mack Center in P ...

in 2006, losing 69-61 to the Chicago Rush. With a win, Hamilton would have become the first player in history to own both a Super Bowl and ArenaBowl ring. In the 2006 off-season, he was released by the Orlando Predators.

Post-playing career

He returned to school, and received his degree in History, Technology, and Society in August 2007. " In 2008, following an arrest for a hit and run, DUI, open container and marijuana possession, Joe Hamilton resigned as a Georgia Tech assistant coach—less than two weeks after he was hired. In 2010, he resurrected his coaching career when he became a recruiting intern at Georgia State, which had launched its

Georgia State Panthers football The Georgia State Panthers football team is the college football program for Georgia State University in Atlanta, Georgia. The Panthers football team was founded in 2010 and competes at the NCAA Division I FBS level. The team is a member of the ...

team that year. In June 2011, he joined the Panthers' full-time staff as running backs coach. On May 7, 2013, exactly 5 years after submitting his resignation, Hamilton was re-hired by Georgia Tech to provide assistance with recruiting for the Yellow Jackets football team. Currently, Hamilton is the co-host of The Locker Room, a morning sports radio program on

WCNN WCNN (680 kHz) is an AM radio station licensed to North Atlanta and serving the Atlanta-area radio market. It is owned by Dickey Broadcasting and airs a sports radio format. The station is commonly known by the on-air branding as "The Fan". L ...

in Atlanta and he is the color analyst for Georgia Tech football radio broadcasts

Collegiate awards and honors

* 1996 – Four ACC Rookie of the Week Awards, Runner-up ACC Rookie of the Year * 1997 – Two ACC Offensive Back of the Week Awards,

Georgia Tech The Georgia Institute of Technology, commonly referred to as Georgia Tech or, in the state of Georgia, as Tech or The Institute, is a public research university and institute of technology in Atlanta, Georgia. Established in 1885, it is part of ...

MVP for the Year, MVP of 1997 Carquest Bowl vs

West Virginia West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian, Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States.The Census Bureau and the Association of American Geographers classify West Virginia as part of the Southern United States while the B ...

* 1998 – One ACC Offensive Back of the Week Award, 1st Team All-ACC Quarterback, Co-MVP of 1999 Gator Bowl against Notre Dame, led the team to ending 7 year losing streak to the

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

* 1999 – Davey O'Brien Award winner, Runner-up to the 1999 Heisman Trophy, 1st Team

All-America The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed upon an amateur sports person from the United States who is considered to be one of the best amateurs in their sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an All-Am ...

Quarterback, 1st Team All-ACC Quarterback, Three ACC Offensive Back of the Week Awards, defeated University of Georgia 51-48 for second straight year in wild overtime victory * 2000 – Anthony J. McKelvin Award, ACC Male Athlete of the Year * 2002 – ACC 50th Anniversary Football Team * 2005 – ACC Football Legends - Inaugural Class * 2007 – Received degree from

in History, Technology and Society * 2014 – Inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame

References

External links