Lynell Hamilton (born August 5, 1985) is an American former

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

player and coach. He played as a

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 American football plays#Offensive terminology, handoffs from the quarterback to Rush (American football)#Offense ...

for three seasons with 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 National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South division. Since 1975, the team ...

of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

(NFL). He played

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

for the

San Diego State Aztecs The San Diego State Aztecs are the college athletics in the United States, intercollegiate athletic teams that represent San Diego State University (SDSU). The university fields 17 varsity teams (6 men's, 11 women's) in National Collegiate Athle ...

and was signed by the Saints as an

undrafted free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player or manager 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 a contract at present ...

in 2008.

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 The Record may refer to: Music * The Record (Fear album), ''The Record'' (Fear album), a 1982 studio album by the hardcore-punk band Fear * The Record (Boygenius album), ''The Record'' (Boygenius album), a 2023 studio album by the indie rock supe ...

'', 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 a collegiate athletic conference in the Western United States, participating in NCAA Division I. Its football teams compete in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS). The MW officially began operations on Ja ...

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 In gridiron football, the practice squad, also called the taxi squad or practice roster, is a group of players signed by a team but not part of their main roster. They serve as extra players during the team's practices, often as part of the scou ...

for most of 2008, and played in only three games. In

2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...

he served as the fourth

for the Saints behind Pierre Thomas,

Reggie Bush Reginald Alfred Bush II (born March 2, 1985) is an American former professional football running back. He played college football for the USC Trojans, earning consensus All-American honors twice and winning the 2005 Heisman Trophy. Bush is wide ...

, 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) c ...

. He was expected to fill a more important role in

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

, but on August 11, 2010, during a preseason joint practice session with the

New England Patriots The New England Patriots are a professional American football team based in the Greater Boston area. The Patriots compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East division. The Pa ...

, 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 t ...

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 resp ...

.Tod Leonar
"Aztecs grad assistants do football's grunt work: Alums Hamilton, Deakin contribute with their love of football"
''

U-T San Diego ''The San Diego Union-Tribune'' is a metropolitan daily newspaper published in San Diego, California, that has run since 1868. Its name derives from a 1992 merger between the two major daily newspapers at the time, ''The San Diego Union'' and ...

'', 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