Lorenzo Hampton
Lorenzo Timothy Hampton (born March 12, 1962) is an American former college and professional football player who was a running back in the National Football League (NFL) for five seasons during the 1980s. Hampton played college football for the University of Florida, and thereafter, he played professionally for the Miami Dolphins of the NFL.
Contents
- 1 Early years
- 2 College career
- 3 Professional career
- 4 Life after the NFL
- 5 See also
- 6 References
- 7 Bibliography
Early years
Hampton was born in Lake Wales, Florida in 1962. He attended Lake Wales High School, and he played high school football for the Lake Wales Highlanders.
College career
Hampton accepted an athletic scholarship to attend the University of Florida in Gainesville, Florida, where he played for coach Charley Pell and coach Galen Hall's Florida Gators football teams from 1981 to 1984. Hampton shared the Gators' backfield with fellow running backs John L. Williams and Neal Anderson from 1982 to 1984, and he was often used as a blocking back when Williams and Anderson were the ball carriers. Memorably, he ran for 138 yards against the Florida State Seminoles in 1982. In his four seasons as a Gator, he compiled 1,993 rushing and 655 receiving yards.
Professional career
The Miami Dolphins chose Hampton in the first round (27th pick overall) in the 1985 NFL Draft, and he played for coach Don Shula's Dolphins for five years from 1985 to 1989. Hampton started in thirty-three of the seventy games in which he played, and finished his career with 500 carries for 1,949 rushing yards and twenty-two touchdowns, 123 receptions for 954 receiving yards and six touchdowns, and ninety-six kickoff returns for 2,025 yards.
Life after the NFL
Hampton's charitable foundation, Lemon-Aid Makers, runs a series of South Florida summer football camps in for inner-city elementary and middle school boys ages 7 to 14.
As of 2010, Hampton had been married to his wife Marcia for nineteen years. They have two children: a daughter, Loren, and a son, Lorenzo, Jr.
See also
- American football portal
- College football portal
- Florida Gators football, 1980–89
- List of Florida Gators in the NFL Draft
- List of Miami Dolphins first-round draft picks
- List of Miami Dolphins players
References
Bibliography
- Carlson, Norm, University of Florida Football Vault: The History of the Florida Gators, Whitman Publishing, LLC, Atlanta, Georgia (2007). ISBN:0-7948-2298-3.
- Golenbock, Peter, Go Gators! An Oral History of Florida's Pursuit of Gridiron Glory, Legends Publishing, LLC, St. Petersburg, Florida (2002). ISBN:0-9650782-1-3.
- Hairston, Jack, Tales from the Gator Swamp: A Collection of the Greatest Gator Stories Ever Told, Sports Publishing, LLC, Champaign, Illinois (2002). ISBN:1-58261-514-4.
- McCarthy, Kevin M., Fightin' Gators: A History of University of Florida Football, Arcadia Publishing, Mount Pleasant, South Carolina (2000). ISBN:978-0-7385-0559-6.
- Nash, Noel, ed., The Gainesville Sun Presents The Greatest Moments in Florida Gators Football, Sports Publishing, Inc., Champaign, Illinois (1998). ISBN:1-57167-196-X.