Casey "Big Snack" Hampton, Jr. (born September 3, 1977 in
Galveston, TexasGalveston is a coastal city located on Galveston Island in the U.S. state of Texas. , the city had a total population of 47,743 within an area of...
) is an
American footballAmerican football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...
nose tackle who currently plays for the
Pittsburgh SteelersThe Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional football team based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The team currently belongs to the North Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League . Founded in , the Steelers are the oldest franchise in the AFC...
of the
National Football LeagueThe National Football League is the highest level of professional American football in the United States, and is considered the top professional American football league in the world. It was formed by eleven teams in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association, with the league changing...
.
Early years
Hampton attended
Ball High SchoolBall High School is a public secondary school in Galveston, Texas, United States. Ball, which covers grades 9 through 12, is a part of Galveston Independent School District....
in
Galveston, TexasGalveston is a coastal city located on Galveston Island in the U.S. state of Texas. , the city had a total population of 47,743 within an area of...
and was a letterman in football. He was twice named as the District's Defensive Player of the Year, and as a senior, he was a Class 5A All-State first team selection. His Ball High jersey number (#63) was retired at a dinner and parade on April 6, 2009. Hampton is the only football player in school history to receive such an honor.
College career
Hampton, #64, attended the
University of TexasThe University of Texas at Austin is a state research university located in Austin, Texas, USA, and is the flagship institution of the The University of Texas System. Founded in 1883, its campus is located approximately from the Texas State Capitol in Austin...
and started 37 consecutive games for the Longhorns. He became the first defensive lineman to lead the team in tackles two consecutive seasons (1999–2000) and recorded 329 tackles (177 solos) to rank 11th on the school's all-time list. Hampton registered 56 quarterback pressures and caused nine fumbles in his college career and earned All-American first-team honors as a senior from The Football Writers Association, The Sporting News, Walter Camp and The Sports Xchange. As a Texas Longhorn, he was also consensus All-Big 12 Conference first-team selection and Defensive Player of the Year. Hampton was an All-America first-team selection by the Football Writers Association and Associated Press as a junior in 1999. In 1998 he was named the team's Most Consistent Defensive Player and started every game. That season, he recorded 60 tackles (29 solos) with two sacks and eight stops for losses and registered six quarterback pressures, five pass deflections and recovered one fumble. He also appeared in three games in 1997 before being granted a medical redshirt but played in every game as a true freshman in 1996, starting six at nose guard and recorded 77 tackles (51 solos), one sack and seven stops for losses. In his freshman season he also had three quarterback pressures and a forced fumble. Hampton majored in history.
In 2000,
The Daily TexanThe Daily Texan is the student newspaper of the University of Texas at Austin. It is entirely student-run and independent from the university. It is one of the largest college newspapers in the United States with a daily circulation of roughly 30,000 during the fall and spring semesters and bills...
, the student daily paper at Texas, characterized Hampton as "relentless," even quoting Hampton. "The way I see it, you never know when your last play is going to be," Texas' star defensive tackle said. "So you should go hard all the time. There's no reason to take a play off.." At the time, Hampton was 6'1 and 325 lbs and safety Greg Brown said "I have never seen him take a down off, he's just so intent on destroying people that he never takes time to rest. It's gotta be a gift." Hampton played with Shaun Rogers, a 2nd round pick of the Detroit Lions in 2001 and a Longhorn from 1997–2000; and after Hampton was quoted saying "No one guy can block me. Two guys can probably get it done but never one guy. I can always overpower one,"
the Daily Texan printed this: "He's says he's never even been caked. Ever," fellow defensive tackle Rogers said. "He says he wasn't even caked in junior high, but I, at least, am humble enough to say that I might have been once or twice. So I'd say some of what he says is questionable."
Professional career
Hampton was selected in the first round with the 19th overall choice of the
2001 NFL DraftThe 2001 NFL Draft took place on April 21–22, 2001 at the theater at Madison Square Garden, in New York City. This was the 66th National Football League draft in league history. The draft was broadcast on ESPN both days and eventually moved to ESPN2. No teams elected to claim any players in the...
by the Steelers. He quickly emerged as a solid player in the middle of the defensive line while logging considerable time as a rookie. He played in all 48 games through his first three seasons, becoming a highly disruptive force, and winning a trip to the
Pro BowlIn professional American football, the Pro Bowl is the all-star game of the National Football League . Since the merger with the rival American Football League in 1970, it has been officially called the AFC–NFC Pro Bowl, matching the top players in the American Football Conference against those...
in 2003. Six games into the 2004 season, he suffered a tear of the
anterior cruciate ligamentThe anterior cruciate ligament is a cruciate ligament which is one of the four major ligaments of the human knee. In the quadruped stifle , based on its anatomical position, it is referred to as the cranial cruciate ligament.The ACL originates from deep within the notch of the distal femur...
in his right knee and missed the remainder of that year's games.
For his career, he has played in 129 regular season games, recording 296
tacklesMost forms of football have a move known as a tackle. The primary purposes of tackling is to disposses an opponent of the ball, to stop the player from gaining ground towards goal or to stop them from carrying out what they intend....
, 8.0
sacksIn American football and Canadian football, a sack occurs when the quarterback is tackled behind the line of scrimmage before he can throw a forward pass, or when the quarterback is tackled behind the line of scrimmage in the "pocket" and the intent of what he was going to do is unclear...
, three
pass deflectedIn American football a pass deflected, also known as a pass defended, a pass defensed, a pass knock down, or a pass break up, is an incomplete pass that is caused by a defensive player...
, three forced
fumbleA fumble in American and Canadian football occurs when a player, who has possession and control of the ball loses it before being downed or scoring. By rule, it is any act other than passing, kicking or successful handing that results in loss of player possession...
s, and two recovered fumbles. He also recorded a sack against the
Seattle SeahawksThe Seattle Seahawks are a professional American football team based in Seattle, Washington. They are currently members of the Western Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League . The team joined the NFL in 1976 as an expansion team...
'
Matt HasselbeckMatthew Michael Hasselbeck is a National Football League quarterback for the Tennessee Titans. He was drafted by the Green Bay Packers in the sixth round of the 1998 NFL Draft, and traded to Seattle in 2001. After becoming the starter in 2003, Hasselbeck led Seattle to six playoff appearances and...
in
Super Bowl XLSuper Bowl XL was an American football game pitting the American Football Conference champion Pittsburgh Steelers against the National Football Conference champion Seattle Seahawks to decide the National Football League champion for the 2005 season...
, which sealed the game for the Steelers, and that was his first sack since the 2003 season.
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