DaeSean Hamilton’s record-approaching career put in perspective by Penn State legends, teammates, family

Deon Butler met DaeSean Hamilton six years ago.

The former Penn State receiver was still with the Seattle Seahawks, while the latter was a budding wideout at Mountain View High School. Butler and Hamilton shared the same high school coach, Lou Sorrentino, and the NFL pass-catcher came down to Stafford, Va., to say hello and offer advice to the Wildcats.

Little did Butler know he was giving pointers to the kid who’d one day break his cherished program record.

With 172 catches in tow, Hamilton is eight away from passing Butler on Penn State’s all-time receptions list. Sitting at third behind Butler (179) and Allen Robinson (177), it’s a matter of when — not if — Hamilton will set a new Nittany Lion standard.

Butler is holding on for now — but he’s ready for Hamilton to make history.

“It’s been a blessing to be at the top of a list like that at a school like Penn State for so long,” Butler said. “To have it in my grasps for this long is something special. And I’ll be even happier if he breaks it because he’s a great guy.”

Butler isn’t alone, either.

Players like Butler, stars of Big Ten-title winning teams and national championship squads, are in his corner. Family and coaches — those who watched Hamilton grow before their very eyes — are eager to see him smile after that eighth catch. Meanwhile, former and current teammates, guys like Juwan Johnson and Mike Gesicki, are itching for it to happen.

Whether he knew it all along or not, Hamilton’s been working toward this for more than a decade. And when he finally does claim the spot atop the all-time program ranks, Hamilton won’t be the only one grinning from cheek to cheek.

“I’ll be watching when he breaks it,” Butler said. “That’s for sure.”

Family perspective

Hamilton’s parents never fathomed he’d be in the position he’s in now. Heck, during his first-ever college game, they didn’t even think he’d play.

On Aug. 30, 2014, Hamilton made his Penn State debut, and it was a memorable one. Hamilton had 11 catches for 165 yards in Penn State’s win over Central Florida at the Croke Park Classic in Ireland.

But Hamilton’s parents weren’t hanging out at an Irish pub prior to the game. His mother, Max, was on vacation, staying in the Inner Harbor with her husband, godson and family. She didn’t realize he was playing until she walked by a bar in Baltimore.

“I looked up at the screen, and Penn State was on,” Max recalled. “I said, ‘Five. No. 5. Wait, that’s (Dae)Sean.’ I rushed back to where I was staying in our timeshare, and my husband said, ‘DaeSean caught a ball!’ And I said, ‘Really? He’s playing?’”

Added Hamilton’s father, Johnie: “After that, we didn’t miss a game.”

They’ll be in Happy Valley again for Saturday’s game against Indiana, at Northwestern next week and on and on. There’s no chance they’ll miss their son make history.

That’s just the way it is with them. Max and Johnie have always supported DaeSean’s football career — even if it didn’t look promising early on at the age of 8. When DaeSean’s mother would toss him footballs while he jumped on the trampoline situated on the back deck, he’d struggle like an offensive lineman catching bullets from Tom Brady.

“I’m like, ‘Man, he wants me to take him to football the whole dadgum summer?’” Max said, laughing. “He can’t catch a cold.”

Obviously that changed. Hamilton wouldn’t be in this on-the-cusp situation if it hadn’t.

But even after a 10-touchdown senior season at Mountain View High School, his football journey wasn’t a smooth one. Hamilton lacked confidence in his first year at Penn State. He was forced to redshirt due to a wrist injury.

Again, his parents were there to support him. Johnie and Max went to a few homes games during DaeSean’s redshirt year to encourage him.

“That was the first year he wasn’t playing football since he was 6 years old,” Johnie said. “He was taking it pretty tough.”

Added his mother: “It was crazy because he would call so much me and my husband would look at the phone like, ‘Are you going to take it?’ It was so hard because it felt like we were so repetitive in trying to get him motivated again.”

But motivation wasn’t hard to come by once he started playing. That stunning performance in the Croke Park Classic made him a star in Penn State fans’ eyes overnight.

To Max and Johnie, they knew their son was capable of accomplishing what he set out to do.

But considering what DaeSean went through before that breakout showcase in Ireland — from having bricks for hands on a trampoline to struggling with the reality of not playing football — his parents can’t honestly say they saw him reaching this prestigious record.

“I didn’t think so,” Max said. “I never considered it.”

From alumni’s eyes

Ironically enough, when Hamilton went on his official visit to Penn State in December 2012 he was hosted by the player directly above him now on the all-time list: Allen Robinson.

Robinson — coming off a 1,018-yard, 11-touchdown sophomore season at the time — roomed with tight end Kyle Carter. The Jacksonville Jaguars receiver said he and Carter still look back on that weekend fondly.

Now, Hamilton is one of the few players left in Happy Valley that Robinson played alongside. But back then, he was a high school junior with potential.

“He was kind of a quiet guy, but at the same time he gives you that mentality that he’s about business,” Robinson said. “I knew he was a good student coming in. He was good on and off the field. He had that type of vibe.

“I think right there, that’s the kind of person who attracted coach Bill O’Brien.”

Hamilton possessed the attitude to be great. Over time he showed Robinson and other Penn State greats that he had the talent, too.

Gregg Garrity, Sr. — who was on the receiving end of Todd Blackledge’s 1982 national championship-winning Sugar Bowl heave — got acquainted with Hamilton early. His son of the same name, a walk-on wideout, roomed with him for three years.

Garrity Sr. saw Hamilton develop as a route runner and today wonders why Penn State’s No. 1 slot option doesn’t see many targets.

Off the field, Garrity Sr. picked Hamilton’s brain. When Hamilton visited their Pittsburgh home over the summer, his wife asked him not to talk football, to let them relax. But Garrity Sr. couldn’t help himself. “I’d always sneak a few things in,” he said with a laugh.

And when he talked with Hamilton, he came away impressed.

“You can tell he had really what it takes,” Garrity Sr. said. “He’s been plugging away, and you don’t hear about him complaining. He’s done his job, and I think he’s a ballplayer.”

Former Penn State wideouts Derek Moye and Graham Zug echoed those sentiments. Moye and Zug — teammates for three seasons from 2008-10 who combined for 3,371 yards and 28 touchdowns over their careers — were both reliable targets in their own right.

That’s what they appreciate about Hamilton’s game.

“He’s a fifth-year senior. If you call his number, he’s going to make a play,” said Moye, who’s eighth on the all-time list with 144 catches. “And even if he doesn’t, you know that you can go back to him.”

Added Zug: “He might not get the ball every single down, but when the money’s on the line, he’s the one.”

Moye and Zug are proud of Hamilton’s concentration over the years and what it’s led to. Garrity Sr. is excited for Hamilton to break Butler’s record, too.

As for Robinson? He doesn’t mind going from No. 2 to No. 3 all-time. In his eyes, Hamilton deserves that top spot.

“It takes a special player to be in that conversation,” Robinson said.

From a high school mentor

Eric Cooke, assistant principal at Mountain View, knew what kind of kid Hamilton was in high school. He coached the varsity football team when Hamilton was a freshman, and later saw the teenager thrive as a member of the student body — as “someone the administration would count on to set an example for the other students.”

But it wasn’t until a few weeks ago that Cooke realized how far Hamilton had come.

After Penn State’s 33-14 win against Pitt, Hamilton came out of the side tunnel to a hoard of autograph-askers and selfie-seekers. He signed everything he could. “Not necessarily because he’s seeking attention,” Cooke said, “but because people want a little piece of Penn State.”

While Hamilton did his thing, Cooke hung back with DaeSean’s parents and other Mountain View faculty members.

That’s when it clicked.

“I’m with his dad and I just said, ‘Johnie, man, you’ve got to be proud. Look right there.’ DaeSean was kneeling down to get the autograph and picture with a little kid,” Cooke said. “That’s just the kind of guy he is.

“To see him mature as an athlete and to receive potentially this great honor is just icing on the cake for a solid young man.”

His teammates’ point of view

In spring ball, fall camp and even now, without fail, the three friends have a catch after every practice. Hamilton, tight end Mike Gesicki and wideout Juwan Johnson stand in a triangle 10 yards apart and toss a football back and forth at the Lasch practice facility.

They do it for repetition, sure. But the tradition is also built on friends shooting the breeze and offering advice whenever they can. A lot of the time that comes from Hamilton, the senior member of the trio.

“He’s a great friend,” said Johnson, the youngest of the three. “He showed me the ropes ever since I got here.”

In his teammates’ eyes, that’s what makes Hamilton special. It’s not the 172 catches, and it’s not the impending record. It’s the work Hamilton’s put in since Day 1, the tone he’s set for Penn State’s pass-catchers and the kind of companion he’s been through the years.

Hamilton may be fueled now by surpassing Butler and becoming Penn State’s most prolific receiver. But in 2013, that thought wasn’t on the wideout’s mind.

He just wanted to get healthy. Heading into the 2014 season, all he hoped for was to practice fully and see the field. And yet — with those goals in focus, not 180 catches — Hamilton had the same attitude he has now.

There are very few college receivers that have experienced a career quite like Hamilton’s. He led the Big Ten in receptions, his production plummeted as a sophomore, a dropped touchdown against Pitt defined the early part of 2016, and a crucial eight-catch performance in the Penn State’s Big Ten title game completed a bounce-back finish.

Now, he’s chasing program glory.

But in five years in Happy Valley, he’s been the same guy.

That’s why his parents travel to every game, and coaches wait outside Beaver Stadium’s side tunnel to see him.

That’s why Penn State greats like Butler and Robinson are pulling for him.

And that’s why teammates — former and current — want nothing more than to see him make history.

“Ultimately when that record does happen for him, there’s not going to be a guy happier for him than me,” Gesicki said, “and there’s not going to be a guy more appreciative of it than him.”

This story was originally published September 28, 2017 at 8:47 PM with the headline "DaeSean Hamilton’s record-approaching career put in perspective by Penn State legends, teammates, family."