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“Dreams come true when you find the courage to pursue them”…Woody Hamilton
Often, when we see a dream fulfilled, we forget what it took to reach that dream. Here is Woody Hamilton a big strapping guy playing four years as an Ole Miss Rebel. Seeing his goals accomplished…celebrating in the victories…sadness in the defeats. The Ole Miss football is having a phenomenal year due in part to the dynamite defensive line. “The D-Line” has pushed, shoved, and scrambled to keep the “boys” on the other side from crossing over.
Deep in the woods of south Mississippi a young man struggled. But through trials and tribulations was born a man of courage and desire. “God is going to take care of you,” Woody’s family always said. “He will put people in your life to help you…accept their help.”
Giving up is a word Woodrow Hamilton didn’t allow in his vocabulary. He played football in his earlier years at Magee High School, but due to the death of both grandparents moved to Raleigh. At Raleigh High School his talent was spotted and polished. As a seventeen year old, Woody signed a four-year scholarship with the Ole Miss Rebels. Here was a young man that had no idea about campus life…much less college football life. But what he did know was that again, God placed people ( his amazing Ole Miss coaches) in his life to allow for success….a coaching staff that certainty loves him and is attentive to his needs while pushing him to become the player he is today…
When Woody arrived at Oxford…he arrived as the underdog on the team. Red-shirted as a freshman, Woody realized that to prove the “underdog” title wrong, the heat was on.
Woody enters Saturday night’s Egg Bowl as the final regular season game of his career, a climb that no one could take away. A promise by the Ole Miss coaches to “make a man out of you,” has been achieved. Woody savors every moment on the field… playing or practicing.
Woody knew he processed the skills and passion…tools of his job. “Coach Kiffin talked a lot about the tools needed to do the job…so I started bringing a tool box on my shoulder on to the field every game,” explained Woody. What the d-line decided to put into the toolbox and take out and use was in the hands of every defensive player.
“The Rush Man Code”
When I first was told about this shirt…I was like really?…but I soon came to learn what the Rush Man Code was:
1. Attitude
2. Max Speed
3. Knowledge
4. Finish
“None of the above takes talent,” according to Woody.
Woody has played in a Bowl game every year:
1. The Compass Bowl in Birmingham
2. The Music City Bowl in Nashville
3. The Peach Bowl in Atlanta.
He can’t wait to see where number 4 will be played!
Woody graduated in May of 2015 and now is taking graduate classes. His plans are to train all spring in preparation for the draft. Woody’s next goal is “Train hard and try to be the best and to make a 53 man roster in the NFL.”
Don’t you just love people who will dream? Even in some of the darkest times of his life Woody continued to dream. We don’t always achieve our dreams…we make mistakes…injuries may come… but we will not ever know the outcome of a dream if we don’t give our all.
Woody is giving his all, Saturday at the Egg Bowl. As 298 pound, nose guard, number 56 hits the turf at Starkville, one can rest assured he will be listening to the words of his family “God is going to take care of his children.”
We in south Mississippi have a stake in this young man… this child had a dream…and Woodrow Hamilton has fulfilled the dream.
