WEBVTT - S3 Episode 9: Relentless Pursuit 0:00:00.080 --> 0:00:02.960 Drafted is a production of tree Fork Media, Clutch Sports Group, 0:00:03.040 --> 0:00:17.360 and I Heart Radio m M. Most people have that 0:00:17.400 --> 0:00:20.160 are getting drafted, they're always the guys since freshman year, 0:00:20.520 --> 0:00:22.560 always the best, one of the same. But for me, 0:00:22.640 --> 0:00:26.319 that wasn't the case. Sophomore year of high school, I 0:00:26.360 --> 0:00:29.680 was trash and football fist sting on JV. So, like 0:00:29.840 --> 0:00:32.520 now that it's like literally less than a day away, 0:00:33.000 --> 0:00:35.760 it's kind of starting to get surreal. I'm I'm a 0:00:35.840 --> 0:00:38.199 cry I'm an emotional person, so I'll be tearing up 0:00:38.240 --> 0:00:41.080 thinking about my process. I was talking to my mom's 0:00:41.120 --> 0:00:43.560 instagram from like six years ago, watching all my high 0:00:43.560 --> 0:00:46.199 school videos and all my old workouts and all that. 0:00:46.280 --> 0:00:52.879 So it's finally starting to get real for me. Welcome 0:00:52.880 --> 0:00:57.080 back to Drafted. I'm Steven Johnson and this is episode 0:00:57.160 --> 0:01:00.400 nine of season three. In this episode, we'll meet our 0:01:00.440 --> 0:01:04.120 sixth and final player of this season, Oregon State linebacker 0:01:04.400 --> 0:01:08.319 Hammaka Rashid Jr. We'll be joining Hammacah and his family 0:01:08.360 --> 0:01:11.560 in Phoenix, Arizona for their draft party, but first we're 0:01:11.600 --> 0:01:15.280 returning to the mountains of Big Bear, California for cornerback 0:01:15.319 --> 0:01:20.479 Cameron Bonham's big day and now it's finally here. Cam explains, 0:01:23.640 --> 0:01:27.720 all right, so it's the morning of the draft April. 0:01:29.560 --> 0:01:32.319 We're about to late breakfast. But today I'm not gonna 0:01:32.360 --> 0:01:36.480 tell people, well unless it's just talking crazy, but from 0:01:36.520 --> 0:01:39.640 my immediate family, I'm not telling him. I'm Mike, So 0:01:39.680 --> 0:01:41.760 I'm gonna keep it as authentic as possible for you. 0:01:41.840 --> 0:01:46.640 All good content. All right, I'll be back. Cam joins 0:01:46.640 --> 0:01:49.040 his family in the living room, where they all wait 0:01:49.080 --> 0:01:55.200 for the first round to begin. Shortly. All right, Kevin, 0:01:55.240 --> 0:01:59.440 give me some wisdom you Yeah, I want to be 0:01:59.480 --> 0:02:03.360 quiet on all of a sudden, come on, give me something. 0:02:06.600 --> 0:02:12.239 All his normally talkative siblings are suddenly quiet, maybe finally 0:02:12.240 --> 0:02:15.239 succumbing to the weight of what's at stake. So to 0:02:15.440 --> 0:02:23.840 lighten the mood, Cam shows off his newest skill. I 0:02:23.919 --> 0:02:30.959 just want to Cam talked himself how to play the 0:02:31.000 --> 0:02:33.840 piano while recovering from a knee injury last season. He 0:02:33.880 --> 0:02:37.200 did this by following his same routine from football. Here. 0:02:37.240 --> 0:02:41.880 He explains, physically, I just had to sit back and 0:02:41.919 --> 0:02:43.840 do nothing for a little So that's the first time 0:02:43.880 --> 0:02:45.640 I've ever done that. So that was the biggest challenge. 0:02:45.680 --> 0:02:47.800 I was sitting in the garage doing curls, sitting with 0:02:47.800 --> 0:02:51.080 my legs straight on the bench, and I wasn't allowed 0:02:51.120 --> 0:02:53.520 to sweat, so I make it really put the fan 0:02:53.639 --> 0:02:55.600 on me, sit there, do a set of curls. I 0:02:55.680 --> 0:02:57.320 have to rest for like five minutes so I don't 0:02:57.360 --> 0:03:00.200 get sweating and get it affective. But I was any 0:03:00.240 --> 0:03:02.760 any little way to still get working. So that was 0:03:02.800 --> 0:03:05.320 that was the biggest challenge for me, to to actually 0:03:05.360 --> 0:03:07.400 sit back and rest. And I knew that I still 0:03:07.440 --> 0:03:09.959 find a way to do something productive. Let me challenge 0:03:10.000 --> 0:03:12.680 myself mentally in a different way. So that's when I 0:03:12.680 --> 0:03:16.160 started playing piano and fell in love with music. Ever since, 0:03:17.080 --> 0:03:20.440 Cam assumed his process for football would directly translate. He 0:03:20.600 --> 0:03:23.959 substitute finger drills on the keys for footwork on the field, 0:03:24.840 --> 0:03:27.080 as if tackling a running back or covering a wide 0:03:27.080 --> 0:03:30.359 receiver are the same as combining notes and timing the pedals. 0:03:31.360 --> 0:03:34.040 If always wanted to play the piano, and this is 0:03:34.040 --> 0:03:37.480 super tough, super big challenge, And I was like, okay, 0:03:37.680 --> 0:03:40.680 this does memic football. I gotta learn something. I gotta 0:03:40.760 --> 0:03:43.160 drill it and then make a big picture and we 0:03:43.160 --> 0:03:45.600 able to make music. Same thing with football. Gotta learned 0:03:45.640 --> 0:03:48.520 to playbook. You gotta do drills to try and get 0:03:48.520 --> 0:03:50.520 the movements down. Then you put it together and that's 0:03:50.520 --> 0:03:53.000 a full play. So let me challenge myself and start 0:03:53.120 --> 0:03:55.680 learning this instrument that I love and have loved my 0:03:55.800 --> 0:03:58.120 whole life. That never played it. Uh, that was like 0:03:58.160 --> 0:04:04.720 the best thing I've done so far. Going into the draft, 0:04:05.080 --> 0:04:07.960 NFL scouts thought Cam might make a better safety than 0:04:08.000 --> 0:04:11.600 a cornerback. However, it's a big risk moving a player 0:04:11.600 --> 0:04:14.800 to another position at the pro level. Many athletes aren't 0:04:14.840 --> 0:04:17.680 open to the idea or the amount of work required, 0:04:17.960 --> 0:04:21.560 and the early struggles can shatter their confidence or overwhelm 0:04:21.640 --> 0:04:25.200 them completely. So almost every team asked Cam how he 0:04:25.240 --> 0:04:28.080 felt about trying to change positions. Would he be all 0:04:28.160 --> 0:04:30.520 right getting outside his comfort zone and learning a new 0:04:30.640 --> 0:04:33.880 role on defense? Could he handle the mental challenges that 0:04:33.960 --> 0:04:36.919 come with initially struggling, And what about the amount of 0:04:36.960 --> 0:04:43.320 time and commitment it takes to master these new skills. Now, 0:04:43.360 --> 0:04:45.400 I'm pretty good now to the point where I can 0:04:45.440 --> 0:04:48.440 play almost anything once I learn it. I can read 0:04:48.480 --> 0:04:51.640 all the music, so it's just a matter of memorization. NASA. 0:04:52.000 --> 0:04:54.520 Now I'm branching out to now I'm obsess of the 0:04:54.560 --> 0:04:57.839 baskits are along with pianissa um, just trying to branch 0:04:57.880 --> 0:05:01.360 out of the music and just keep learning. It was 0:05:01.440 --> 0:05:09.360 this exact approach that got him here to draft day. 0:05:11.880 --> 0:05:16.160 Throughout the week, it was before school there we're start 0:05:16.240 --> 0:05:19.000 workout starts at five, and then right after school another 0:05:19.160 --> 0:05:21.520 practice on the field at the high school, and then 0:05:21.600 --> 0:05:23.640 right back at five o'clock we're back up with the 0:05:23.640 --> 0:05:27.080 facility doing our speed work, doing our lifting, and one 0:05:27.120 --> 0:05:29.920 more DV workout. So it was it was at least 0:05:30.360 --> 0:05:34.080 with fourteen hours a day of from the time you 0:05:34.120 --> 0:05:36.480 wake up at five am and I'm not getting home 0:05:36.560 --> 0:05:40.200 until seven at night after my last workout, and then 0:05:40.200 --> 0:05:42.120 I had to do homework and then right back and 0:05:42.160 --> 0:05:44.640 now that was basically my whole routine even when I 0:05:44.680 --> 0:05:47.520 got to college, still doing those crazy hours, still putting 0:05:47.520 --> 0:05:49.919 it in extra hours. When a whole year without missing 0:05:49.920 --> 0:05:52.920 a dave doing extra work. So that's that's really been 0:05:52.920 --> 0:05:55.760 the whole story of my entire career. In addition to 0:05:55.800 --> 0:05:59.279 the fourteen hour work days, Cam added another layer once 0:05:59.320 --> 0:06:02.760 he started playing in college. I talked to the quarterbacks, 0:06:02.760 --> 0:06:06.159 to the receiver coach, and the offensive coordinator after games 0:06:06.440 --> 0:06:09.040 just say what what did you see him my game 0:06:09.120 --> 0:06:11.559 that made you do this this or that? And after 0:06:11.600 --> 0:06:13.960 games I'm d M and receivers like, okay, what was 0:06:13.960 --> 0:06:16.800 going through the film room that week? And how are 0:06:16.800 --> 0:06:20.560 you guys planning to beat me? After games, Cam questioned 0:06:20.560 --> 0:06:24.520 opposing quarterbacks and coaches about his weaknesses. Then he continued 0:06:24.560 --> 0:06:28.680 texting opposing receivers for days, desperately seeking any edge to 0:06:28.760 --> 0:06:32.400 improve and any new area to work on. So maybe 0:06:32.400 --> 0:06:34.960 when of those NFL teams asked Cam if he'd be 0:06:35.000 --> 0:06:38.520 open to learning a new position like safety, instead of 0:06:38.560 --> 0:06:40.960 answering their questions, maybe he should have just played them 0:06:40.960 --> 0:07:09.160 a song or two. Meet hammaca Rashid Jr. Linebacker from 0:07:09.200 --> 0:07:15.760 Oregon State University. I had a lot of meetings, play 0:07:15.880 --> 0:07:18.040 I every meeten and I had to play two teams. 0:07:18.040 --> 0:07:20.960 We're talking about, um, how did I drop from you know, 0:07:21.080 --> 0:07:24.120 fourteen sacks zero? And that's pretty much where I'd answered 0:07:24.120 --> 0:07:27.040 his whole drive time. And that's probably the biggest question. 0:07:27.040 --> 0:07:30.800 Now I've been asked arguably no prospect and the entire 0:07:30.880 --> 0:07:34.239 draft has a wider range of possible outcomes than Hammoca. 0:07:35.040 --> 0:07:37.760 He's projected to be picked anywhere from late in Round 0:07:37.840 --> 0:07:40.920 one too late in the seventh round. In other words, 0:07:41.120 --> 0:07:43.720 at almost any point in the entire draft. This is 0:07:43.720 --> 0:07:46.840 because Hamaca had possibly the two craziest back to back 0:07:46.880 --> 0:07:50.640 seasons out of anyone in college football. Two years ago, 0:07:50.920 --> 0:07:55.080 he had fourteen sacks, barely trailing last year's number two pick, 0:07:55.200 --> 0:07:58.280 an NFL defensive Rookie of the Year, Chase Young. Then 0:07:58.560 --> 0:08:01.640 he decided to come back for his senior season. Here's 0:08:01.640 --> 0:08:09.960 Hammokah elaborating, Yeah, I wanted to come back and be 0:08:10.000 --> 0:08:12.080 a top teen. You know what they're saying, I'm top thirty. 0:08:12.120 --> 0:08:14.240 You know thirty people are better me. I wanted to 0:08:14.280 --> 0:08:16.400 come back, and so I'm like, no, these thirty people 0:08:16.440 --> 0:08:18.160 are not betting me. All these sixty people are not 0:08:18.200 --> 0:08:22.680 betting me. That's really motivated me to go back. He 0:08:22.720 --> 0:08:25.600 returned to Oregon State and only recorded two tackles for 0:08:25.640 --> 0:08:29.600 a loss and zero sacks. So naturally everyone wants to 0:08:29.600 --> 0:08:32.360 know how and why that happened. And this is why 0:08:32.360 --> 0:08:35.440 he has a nearly unprecedented draft range and why he 0:08:35.520 --> 0:08:38.000 and his family are feeling a little nervous right now. 0:08:41.160 --> 0:08:44.719 As the final few pre draft minutes take away his mother, 0:08:44.840 --> 0:08:52.160 Misha McLamore especially, begins to struggle with the tension. Yeah, 0:08:52.240 --> 0:09:00.360 I'm sitting down there. Yeah, I like down and we're 0:09:00.400 --> 0:09:04.200 not getting Mischia takes a seat on the couch to 0:09:04.240 --> 0:09:07.360 try to calm herself. She's struggling with a similar question 0:09:07.400 --> 0:09:10.839 and the fel executive's face. What's next for Hannock's career? 0:09:11.679 --> 0:09:14.160 Is he the player from two seasons ago or the 0:09:14.200 --> 0:09:17.200 one from last year? Which player is the real hammockaver 0:09:17.240 --> 0:09:20.480 Sheet Jr. To answer that question, you have to go 0:09:20.520 --> 0:09:22.800 all the way back to his childhood where he grew 0:09:22.840 --> 0:09:36.320 up playing sports with his three brothers in South Phoenix, Arizona. 0:09:37.000 --> 0:09:38.480 Growing on yesterday. You know, I had a lot of 0:09:38.480 --> 0:09:41.440 people going outside playing basketball and football, and I feel 0:09:41.440 --> 0:09:43.520 like that's when it started my football career, you know, 0:09:44.200 --> 0:09:46.200 talking all the people in the streets, so you know, 0:09:46.320 --> 0:09:49.160 hot deserts, scrapes and bruises and all types of stuff. 0:09:49.280 --> 0:09:52.280 Now that was you know, no fun times. For sure, 0:09:53.000 --> 0:09:57.160 football was fun. Hannaka played in the youth leagues along 0:09:57.160 --> 0:09:59.920 with the pickup games in the neighborhood. He'd go crashing 0:10:00.000 --> 0:10:03.520 into anyone and everyone, no matter the age or size 0:10:03.920 --> 0:10:06.360 or whether he was on the field or a paved street. 0:10:06.920 --> 0:10:14.360 The tackling and chasing and collisions all felt natural. I 0:10:14.520 --> 0:10:16.559 think I'm just born like this. You know, I'll never 0:10:16.679 --> 0:10:19.000 back down, you know. Sorry early age. I think I 0:10:19.000 --> 0:10:22.120 want to say, probably my older brothers they made me tougher. 0:10:22.280 --> 0:10:24.920 You know, I'm always fighting man, I'm fighting your friend 0:10:25.000 --> 0:10:27.719 or something like that, and I'm not backing down. The 0:10:27.840 --> 0:10:29.720 probably started from my brother and my dad. You know, 0:10:29.760 --> 0:10:33.679 they're always tough on me and working me being fearless. 0:10:33.679 --> 0:10:36.280 I'm fearless and I'm not scaring. You know. It's the 0:10:36.400 --> 0:10:40.199 heart and how tough you are. Like DeVante Smith getting 0:10:40.200 --> 0:10:42.360 pushed her ounto the basketball court. As a younger kid, 0:10:43.240 --> 0:10:46.320 Cammica grew up always playing against older siblings and bigger 0:10:46.400 --> 0:10:50.280 kids in the neighborhood. Here's his older brother DeAndre on 0:10:50.360 --> 0:10:57.800 those intense childhood games, like any other big brother. For me, 0:10:57.880 --> 0:10:59.559 you're gonna you're gonna pick on the little ones. It's 0:10:59.600 --> 0:11:01.880 my to make sure you're coming you tough. Most things 0:11:01.920 --> 0:11:04.360 about happen. Like I said, we all was rough. So 0:11:04.559 --> 0:11:06.280 even though my mom trying to protect you, to keep 0:11:06.360 --> 0:11:09.480 us clean, we're just like any other kids. We're bad 0:11:09.600 --> 0:11:13.440 we're playing, you know, picking on each other, that type 0:11:13.440 --> 0:11:16.880 of ordeal. So as Hammer came along, the one visual 0:11:17.000 --> 0:11:19.080 thing I got about ham He usually had his arch 0:11:19.160 --> 0:11:21.720 little hockey stick like he's probably like I want to say, 0:11:21.800 --> 0:11:23.520 the water too, and he probably had like a pull 0:11:23.600 --> 0:11:26.080 up ball. He ran to the house chasing as little 0:11:26.240 --> 0:11:28.640 a little as he was chasing us, you feel me, 0:11:28.679 --> 0:11:30.559 So I feel like that could have been another thing 0:11:30.600 --> 0:11:34.040 where he was. He was crazy and the football he 0:11:34.120 --> 0:11:38.000 already had it even as a toddler him I would 0:11:38.040 --> 0:11:40.280 chase his older brothers to the house with a hockey stick, 0:11:40.600 --> 0:11:43.920 already playing like a future linebacker looking for someone to hit. 0:11:47.120 --> 0:11:48.920 But like I started at the early age, I know 0:11:49.000 --> 0:11:50.360 I was gonna be a for all players because I 0:11:50.400 --> 0:11:52.559 was just tough as a one, ain't I'm fighting, I'm 0:11:52.559 --> 0:11:55.600 picking on kids three times bigger than me. You know, 0:11:55.640 --> 0:11:58.680 I'm not backing down out there, just putting my head 0:11:58.720 --> 0:12:01.160 and hitting arry kid out there. So I feel like 0:12:01.520 --> 0:12:04.440 I learned that. I think I learned that us like 0:12:05.360 --> 0:12:09.600 probably seven nine years old, and and I didn't look 0:12:09.640 --> 0:12:14.280 back to Sinderstand. Despite some success, Hammaka wasn't heavily recruited 0:12:14.360 --> 0:12:16.800 or getting much publicity during his first two seasons of 0:12:16.880 --> 0:12:21.360 high school. Then everything changed his junior year. It wasn't 0:12:21.440 --> 0:12:24.120 really recruited. Um, I end up had to get like 0:12:24.200 --> 0:12:27.080 ten sacks in one game, and that's what I'm everything like, 0:12:27.440 --> 0:12:29.960 offers started trying to come. You know, I blew up 0:12:30.200 --> 0:12:34.760 my last two years. But nobody knew me until. But 0:12:34.960 --> 0:12:37.559 that's that. That's that line of having twenty sacks in 0:12:37.600 --> 0:12:40.600 my jail year. In case you think you misheard those 0:12:40.600 --> 0:12:45.319 cartoonists sounding statistics, Hammaca recorded ten sacks in one game 0:12:45.400 --> 0:12:48.680 his junior year of high school and twenty for the season. 0:12:49.800 --> 0:12:53.960 I'll just pinned dn and honest f ls, I was 0:12:54.000 --> 0:12:57.880 just running past the kids the whole time and just unstoppable. 0:12:57.960 --> 0:12:59.760 I feel like, you know, I was just pretty easy, 0:13:00.760 --> 0:13:04.760 just getting off the bar, just honestly. I don't even 0:13:04.840 --> 0:13:08.320 say it counted, but you know, tis saxs tis sacks, 0:13:08.400 --> 0:13:12.120 you know, so you can do that in the video game. Then, 0:13:12.200 --> 0:13:15.280 following the best performance of his football career, everything in 0:13:15.320 --> 0:13:23.280 the himcas like quickly turned once again. I had twenty sacks, 0:13:23.400 --> 0:13:25.280 a lot of tiger for losses. You know, I was 0:13:25.320 --> 0:13:28.280 glowing up. I had a great year, but into my 0:13:28.320 --> 0:13:31.400 senior year, my parents end up breaking up and he 0:13:31.559 --> 0:13:34.080 broke up, and that led to me moving in with 0:13:34.160 --> 0:13:36.760 my mom, Me and my little brother. We end up 0:13:36.760 --> 0:13:40.120 having to live with my my oldest brother for a 0:13:40.160 --> 0:13:42.280 couple of months, and I wasn't sure where I was 0:13:42.280 --> 0:13:47.920 gonna go. Uh. I was um sharing rooms from my 0:13:48.080 --> 0:13:50.800 nephew and my little brother, So you know, it was 0:13:50.920 --> 0:14:00.800 tough time. Hammaco and his younger brother, along with her mom, 0:14:01.200 --> 0:14:04.000 moved into his older brother's apartment in a new school district. 0:14:05.000 --> 0:14:07.520 That meant Cammica would now be attending a new high 0:14:07.520 --> 0:14:11.080 school for his senior year. His mom, Misha, recounts those 0:14:11.080 --> 0:14:16.959 traumatic days. It was a trying time for all of us. 0:14:17.000 --> 0:14:20.400 We had just went through our family breakup and then 0:14:20.880 --> 0:14:22.960 you know, he would just had to be strong. It 0:14:23.040 --> 0:14:26.360 was his senior year that everything happened before we got 0:14:26.400 --> 0:14:33.280 to Chandler, and the whole life just changed. And I 0:14:33.360 --> 0:14:35.520 just said, okay, we'll have a goa. We got to 0:14:35.560 --> 0:14:38.760 figure this out. So I said, whatever I gotta do, 0:14:38.920 --> 0:14:41.600 whatever I have to do, we're gonna get through this. 0:14:41.720 --> 0:14:45.040 And with the grace of God and my my dad's 0:14:45.120 --> 0:14:47.880 deceased now, but he was there and then my grandmother, 0:14:48.320 --> 0:14:51.000 she stepped in and my other grandma, who just passed 0:14:51.040 --> 0:14:54.720 away two months ago. My family came together and helped 0:14:54.720 --> 0:14:56.880 me to make sure that me and my boys would 0:14:56.880 --> 0:15:00.600 be fine. And it was a child Mischa and her 0:15:00.640 --> 0:15:03.560 parents and grandparents all came together to care for the 0:15:03.600 --> 0:15:07.120 boys and work with the coaches at Hammonka's new high school, Chandler. 0:15:09.640 --> 0:15:13.640 My name is Russell Scott. I am I'm assistant football 0:15:13.680 --> 0:15:17.800 coach at Chandler High School. I am also a teacher 0:15:17.880 --> 0:15:22.040 on campus as well, and I know him by way 0:15:22.120 --> 0:15:25.440 of football. Of course, we knew of him and we 0:15:25.480 --> 0:15:28.720 did hear about this tensack game that he had, and 0:15:28.760 --> 0:15:31.720 we knew he was special. But my relationship with with 0:15:31.800 --> 0:15:35.440 him was more after practice. He also, you know, he 0:15:35.480 --> 0:15:39.280 had a hip injury at the beginning, and so I 0:15:39.280 --> 0:15:42.440 would take him to physical therapy, so he and I 0:15:42.480 --> 0:15:44.920 would ride along, you know, So we had twenty minutes 0:15:45.000 --> 0:15:48.880 therapy and twenty minutes back from therapy, and you know, 0:15:48.960 --> 0:15:52.160 I do leadership here at Chandler, and so much of 0:15:52.200 --> 0:15:55.680 our conversation was, you know, about life, because we knew 0:15:55.680 --> 0:15:58.560 he had the physical tools to make something happen for himself. 0:15:58.560 --> 0:16:00.560 But we also want to know about his mentor background. 0:16:00.560 --> 0:16:03.320 He want to know his goals and his aspirations as well. 0:16:03.520 --> 0:16:07.440 You know, so much of of my conversation with him 0:16:07.600 --> 0:16:11.080 came from being off the field. Coach Scott and Hammaca 0:16:11.280 --> 0:16:14.200 began to bond, and because Hamaca didn't know a single 0:16:14.240 --> 0:16:17.360 person at his new high school, this relationship provided him 0:16:17.400 --> 0:16:20.680 with someone to turn to for help during this dark period. 0:16:23.160 --> 0:16:26.000 He did have some things going on family wise. He 0:16:26.080 --> 0:16:29.800 also had some academic things going on as well. Uh. 0:16:29.840 --> 0:16:32.280 And so when he came over to Chandler, we let 0:16:32.400 --> 0:16:35.000 him know. So if a kid has the utmost the 0:16:35.000 --> 0:16:39.240 potential to play at the next level Division one, two three, uh, 0:16:39.480 --> 0:16:43.640 we we delve into him and we do transcript research. 0:16:44.160 --> 0:16:47.720 And so we put together a plan for for him. 0:16:47.760 --> 0:16:51.200 And it took him getting all a's and beats both 0:16:51.240 --> 0:16:54.080 semesters in order for him to to really have a 0:16:54.120 --> 0:16:58.960 shot to go anywhere. Hamaca's living situation is unsettled. His 0:16:59.080 --> 0:17:02.240 parents are recently divorced, and he has to start over 0:17:02.280 --> 0:17:04.920 at a new high school with a new football program 0:17:04.920 --> 0:17:08.399 where he doesn't know anyone. Then he discovers that he 0:17:08.400 --> 0:17:11.440 has to get all a's and b's both semesters to 0:17:11.600 --> 0:17:15.560 academically qualify to play college football. His senior year quickly 0:17:15.640 --> 0:17:19.159 turns into the greatest challenge of his young life, and 0:17:19.280 --> 0:17:24.240 his decorated twenty season disappeared into the background as everyone 0:17:24.280 --> 0:17:26.800 wonders whether he will be able to rise to the 0:17:26.840 --> 0:17:45.480 occasion on and off the field. We'll be right back like. 0:17:53.640 --> 0:17:56.280 Coach Scott and the staff at Chandler High School called 0:17:56.280 --> 0:17:58.520 a meeting with Hannukah and his mom to deliver the 0:17:58.600 --> 0:18:04.040 tough news about his respects my high school coaches. They 0:18:04.080 --> 0:18:05.840 sent me down. He was like, listen, there you have 0:18:06.560 --> 0:18:08.200 I want to say. I had like a two four 0:18:08.400 --> 0:18:10.240 two three g p A. And they were like, you 0:18:10.320 --> 0:18:12.960 have all these schools coming up to us talking about 0:18:13.000 --> 0:18:14.920 you know, you're a great athlete. You you can do 0:18:14.960 --> 0:18:18.320 all this stuff. You have talk of production and stuff 0:18:18.359 --> 0:18:19.960 like that. But it was like, you're having no grades. 0:18:20.480 --> 0:18:23.320 You gotta do the S A T. S uh. I 0:18:23.359 --> 0:18:26.919 think it's S A T or the other one. And 0:18:26.960 --> 0:18:30.480 they pretty much tled me down. And I believe Coach Eric, 0:18:30.480 --> 0:18:32.480 who was the guy that he sent me down, he 0:18:32.600 --> 0:18:36.000 told me he's planning this whole map out. He was like, listening, 0:18:36.119 --> 0:18:38.480 I need you to buckle down and get straight a's 0:18:38.600 --> 0:18:41.479 to qualify, And he's like, I know you're doing, and 0:18:41.520 --> 0:18:43.760 I believe all your Harvard will pay off. If you 0:18:43.920 --> 0:18:46.280 buy into this, buy into what I'm saying right now, 0:18:46.800 --> 0:18:49.879 you'll be in college. Hamaka needed to excel in the 0:18:49.920 --> 0:18:52.800 classroom and on the football field, and he needed to 0:18:52.840 --> 0:18:56.439 do that amid the turbulence and emotional challenges with his 0:18:56.520 --> 0:19:01.960 life at home. She's sick because she's out of she's hurt. 0:19:02.800 --> 0:19:05.400 You know, it's tough, you know, watching her come home 0:19:05.400 --> 0:19:08.040 from work and just go straight to the room, and 0:19:08.119 --> 0:19:10.879 I really, you know, obviously all that stuff is just 0:19:11.000 --> 0:19:13.679 tough to see. So I feel like that's probably the 0:19:13.680 --> 0:19:18.119 toughest party. You know. He wasn't sure if she was 0:19:18.160 --> 0:19:23.119 physically ill, suffering emotionally, or both. Under these conditions, his 0:19:23.200 --> 0:19:26.479 life seemed to be facing acrossroads. He could use these 0:19:26.560 --> 0:19:30.040 challenges to focus and further commit to his goals, or 0:19:30.280 --> 0:19:34.240 he could understandably wilt under the intense pressure bearing down 0:19:34.280 --> 0:19:40.520 on every part of his life and give up. So 0:19:40.560 --> 0:19:42.600 I feel like for me, it was just being there 0:19:42.720 --> 0:19:44.760 and you know, being strong for her mom because she's 0:19:44.800 --> 0:19:48.200 having a tough time just having her not worry about 0:19:48.200 --> 0:19:51.040 me because she already has so much stuff to worry about, 0:19:51.160 --> 0:19:54.800 you know, and I don't have my mom stressed about me. 0:19:54.840 --> 0:19:57.280 And see where I'm at. And I just took it 0:19:57.320 --> 0:19:58.920 as I go to show my mom like I can 0:19:59.000 --> 0:20:02.240 help her. And you know, doing everything right helped me. 0:20:02.880 --> 0:20:05.200 See Claire, I wanted to get to college and now 0:20:05.640 --> 0:20:09.280 you know the NFL. Hammock A committed himself to these 0:20:09.320 --> 0:20:12.960 goals in a new way, throwing himself into his schoolwork 0:20:13.160 --> 0:20:16.680 and football. Here's Coach Scott on what he saw from 0:20:16.720 --> 0:20:19.600 Hammoca during this period. He had to go to tutoring 0:20:19.760 --> 0:20:21.800 and so he had to get with his teachers. He 0:20:21.840 --> 0:20:24.159 had to sit in there and and and study for 0:20:24.240 --> 0:20:27.360 another hour or so before practice, you know. And then 0:20:27.400 --> 0:20:29.160 he once he made out the practice, he gotta study 0:20:29.160 --> 0:20:30.960 out there on the field too, so you know, he 0:20:31.040 --> 0:20:33.960 was putting in time. Then after school and he did 0:20:34.080 --> 0:20:36.560 go to the public library, which is down the street 0:20:36.600 --> 0:20:39.560 from this house. He went to the public library in 0:20:39.720 --> 0:20:42.280 order to get some homework done because I don't believe 0:20:42.280 --> 0:20:44.679 they had an internet connection in the apartment that he 0:20:44.760 --> 0:20:46.960 was staying in with his mom and brother while he 0:20:47.040 --> 0:20:51.800 was going to school. Here's Hammocka again on these compounding challenges. 0:20:53.800 --> 0:20:56.480 I pretty much bought it and worked my butt off 0:20:56.920 --> 0:21:00.000 to go to a library for like three or four 0:21:00.040 --> 0:21:03.000 hours and study with an S A T guy. You know, 0:21:03.200 --> 0:21:05.720 obviously math and stuff was hard. To end up getting 0:21:05.720 --> 0:21:08.359 straight a's probably for my first time in my life 0:21:08.720 --> 0:21:15.160 and kind up qualified and I was just so happy. 0:21:17.640 --> 0:21:20.720 He qualifies for Division one football and follows up his 0:21:20.760 --> 0:21:24.119 twenty SA junior year with thirteen more sacks as a senior. 0:21:24.520 --> 0:21:27.800 This leads to hammaca committee to Oregon State, planning to 0:21:27.880 --> 0:21:31.920 join his older brother there who plays on the basketball team. Finally, 0:21:32.160 --> 0:21:37.800 the dark days are behind him, until what seemed like 0:21:37.840 --> 0:21:43.399 the perfect situation in college quickly turns into another bad dream. 0:21:43.480 --> 0:21:47.000 Our freshman year, end up traveling every game thinking I 0:21:47.080 --> 0:21:49.119 was gonna play, you know, the coach telling me to 0:21:49.160 --> 0:21:52.120 get ready, stretch and stuff like that, and I'm never 0:21:52.119 --> 0:21:55.040 going me in. At the last like two games, he 0:21:55.119 --> 0:21:58.040 was like, yeah, I'm sorry, I'm your ash, saying that 0:21:58.119 --> 0:22:02.400 he is like seeing you to do elemental lived and 0:22:02.520 --> 0:22:06.199 that was that, and it was pretty tough. I was 0:22:06.359 --> 0:22:08.919 working my butt off, you know, I was probably just 0:22:09.200 --> 0:22:12.240 stronger than just starting linebacker and faster than him. And 0:22:12.840 --> 0:22:15.879 I'm working my butt off from doing everything right, and 0:22:15.920 --> 0:22:18.359 I just didn't get that chance. And second year comes 0:22:18.400 --> 0:22:21.320 around the same thing. I end up playing this special 0:22:21.359 --> 0:22:25.200 team my second year, um doing everything right out there, 0:22:25.280 --> 0:22:29.080 smacking people, smacking people around on kickoff and punt and 0:22:29.160 --> 0:22:31.879 stuff like that, with the hopes of, you know, playing 0:22:31.880 --> 0:22:35.600 on defense. And I think I want to say, I 0:22:35.680 --> 0:22:40.000 probably got eleven plays that whole second year on defense. 0:22:41.720 --> 0:22:44.920 He wasn't getting to play, and he certainly wasn't having 0:22:44.920 --> 0:22:47.200 the same fun he used to when he was younger. 0:22:49.359 --> 0:22:52.160 It was a tough time and I couldn't do nothing 0:22:52.200 --> 0:22:54.600 about that. You know. Everyone went around me was like, 0:22:54.760 --> 0:22:57.639 I can't believe you're not playing. So I feel like 0:22:57.680 --> 0:23:01.639 that's probably what this motivated me. Even are those years, 0:23:01.640 --> 0:23:05.080 those past years, I'm just like, they don't believe me. 0:23:05.240 --> 0:23:07.639 They don't see what I see, and they are not 0:23:07.680 --> 0:23:09.760 even gonna give me the chance to even try to show. 0:23:10.800 --> 0:23:13.639 That's what probably the hardest part was anger, you know, 0:23:13.920 --> 0:23:16.240 just not playing. You know, you're not playing football. You 0:23:16.359 --> 0:23:20.840 just YEA, obviously you can lose yourself. Because mom Misha 0:23:20.960 --> 0:23:24.520 tried to stay positive despite the difficult years adding up 0:23:25.200 --> 0:23:34.040 and Hammka's brother transferring to another university. We just try 0:23:34.119 --> 0:23:36.200 to do is just encourage him and still hanging there 0:23:36.480 --> 0:23:39.560 for him, never playing, from him always playing football for 0:23:39.760 --> 0:23:43.160 now everything stopped. Your whole life changed. Just still trying 0:23:43.200 --> 0:23:46.680 to encourage him to just keep pushing forward even though 0:23:47.040 --> 0:23:49.600 he's not playing. So it was a rest time. And 0:23:49.600 --> 0:23:51.200 then for your brother to be there, and then he's 0:23:51.240 --> 0:23:53.880 no longer there, and the first first time I ever 0:23:53.920 --> 0:23:57.639 leaving home and our households had changed completely. So we 0:23:57.720 --> 0:24:00.720 just had to keep encouraging him and until you can 0:24:01.000 --> 0:24:05.720 figure this part out. Once again, her son faced a 0:24:05.800 --> 0:24:08.800 daunting period in his life. No matter where he looked, 0:24:09.200 --> 0:24:12.199