The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/315684
WHERE ARE THEY NOW? things worse. "I never was injured up to that point," he said. "I didn't know how to rehab it, and understand the conse- quences. When it felt good, I thought I could go out there and kick again. It just backfired on me. Then I lost a little confidence and realized I wasn't going to kick that year." He still received a Big Ten cham- pionship ring for that true freshman season, but soon realized how elusive they were. He kicked a couple of ex- tra points during the 1993 campaign, along with booting a field goal against Minnesota. But he entered 1994 kicking ex- tremely well. Even then, a disciplin- ary matter had him cooling his heels in the season opener against Boston College. When Erik Lovell missed an extra point in Michigan's 34-26 win, though, Hamilton walked through an open door. He secured the starting job the fol- lowing week — at Notre Dame — and kicked himself into Michigan lore. That was the year, he recalled. That was the season the Wolverines would surely put it all together, fueled by the wild win over Notre Dame, a victory that propelled them to a No. 4 national ranking for a contest two weeks later against Colorado. When Kordell Stewart's deflected Hail Mary heave wound up in Mi- chael Westbrook's hands, giving the Buffaloes a stunner of a 27-26 win in Michigan Stadium, those dreams were shattered. "In the fourth quarter, we were up by 12 with six minutes left," Hamilton recalled. "We're looking around think- ing, this is the year. This is the year. We were going to be No. 1, and everyone was all fired up. "You go from that, to …" Well, to utter devastation. This time, there were no seconds remaining for an answer. "I was right next to Amani Toomer when that happened," Hamilton said. "We both looked at each other, and I'll never forget his reaction. He just fell right on the turf. He had his face in the dirt. I just couldn't believe it." He'd never heard Michigan Stadium as loud as it was in the third and fourth quarters of that game. In an instant, it all changed. "When they caught that, you could Hamilton holds the Michigan single-season record for field goals, with 25 in 1994. PHOTO BY PER KJELDSEN