College
Hampton played college football at Arkansas and was drafted in the first round of the 1979 NFL Draft by the Bears. He was part of a Razorback team that thumped the highly favored Oklahoma Sooners in the 1978 Orange Bowl by a score of 31-6. Several key Razorback players had been suspended for the game by Arkansas Head Coach Lou Holtz which left the team short-handed. The fired up Razorbacks charged from the locker room in a fashion that the media noticed. When asked why the team came out of the locker room in such a hurry the wry Hampton answered, "Coach Holtz said the last eleven out of the locker room will start."
As a senior Hampton was an All-American as he logged 98 tackles (18 behind the line of scrimmige). He was also named the Southwest Conference Defensive Player of the Year in 1978. In addition, that same season, Hampton was named by the Houston Post the SWC Player of the Year. As a junior he had 70 tackles (8 for a loss). In 1976, as a sophomore, Hampton made 48 tackles (2 for losses) and recovered two fumbles. As a freshman he had 21 tackles (4 for a loss). In his career he made a total of 237 tackles with 32 being behind the line of scrimmage and recovered six fumbles. He was a four-year letterman, a three-year starter at Arkansas and a two-time All-Conference selection. He was also a member of the Razorback All-Decade team of the 1970s. During his time at Arkansas Hampton played alongside Ron Calcagni, Steve Little and Ben Cowins.
In 1991 he was elected to the University of Arkansas Sports Hall of Honor and the following year he was voted to the Arkansas Sports Hall of Fame. In 1994 Hampton was voted to the All-Century team of the University of Arkansas. Hampton was named one of the state of Arkansas' Top 50 greatest athletes in the 20th century.
Mike Ditka remembers scouting Hampton while a member of the Dallas Cowboys coaching staff: "I watched Dan when he came out of Arkansas," Ditka said. "I remember Coach Landry saying what a great football player he was going to be."
Read more about this topic: Dan Hampton
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