31 Dec 2024 501 Hometown Hall of Famers: Dan Hampton

By David Grimes

Dan Hampton’s love of music had him playing in the Jacksonville High School band instead of for the Red Devils’ football team, but the coach finally convinced him to put on the pads as a junior. That decision would lead Hampton to the University of Arkansas, a 12-year career with the Chicago Bears and a Super Bowl ring.

Hampton was inducted into the Arkansas Sports Hall of Fame in 1992 as part of the 34th class, along with Lorietta Blann, Preston Carpenter, Don Dyer and Tom Gulley.

Born in 1957 in Oklahoma City, Okla., his family moved to a farm in Cabot in 1962. When he was 12 years old, Hampton fell 30 feet from a tree, breaking several bones and forcing him to spend six months in a wheelchair. It would still be a few more years until he could run well enough to again play sports. So he turned his attention to music, playing multiple instruments, including guitar and saxophone.

But as he grew to 6 feet 5 inches and 225 pounds, his path led back to football, where Hampton would shine as a lineman on both sides of the ball. Following his senior season of 1974, he was named to the Class AAA all-state team as defensive tackle. Hampton was also selected to the prestigious all-classification Associated Press Super Team.

Coach Frank Broyles offered Hampton a scholarship to the University of Arkansas, where he would compile one of the finest careers of any defender to ever wear the Razorback red and white.

As a junior, now playing for Head Coach Lou Holtz, Hampton starred on the legendary team that upset the Oklahoma Sooners in the Orange Bowl, 31-6. The Hogs finished that season 11-1 and ranked third in the final AP poll.

As a senior, Hampton was named 1978 Southwest Conference Defensive Player of the Year while also garnering All-American honors. A four-year letterman from 1975 to 1978, Hampton would later be named to the Razorbacks’ All-Decade Team of the 1970s and in 1994 to the University of Arkansas All-Century Team as a defensive lineman. He has also been inducted into the University of Arkansas Sports Hall of Honor.

The Chicago Bears selected Hampton with the fourth overall pick in the first round of the 1979 NFL Draft. He made an immediate impact, starting all 16 games for the Bears and finishing third in the NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year voting. The following season, Hampton made the first of his four Pro Bowl appearances. Hampton was versatile enough to play both defensive tackle and defensive end for the Bears and was good enough at each to be named to the Pro Bowl at both positions.

Bulked up to 265 pounds in the NFL, he earned the nickname “Danimal” for his intense playing style. That intensity would help him earn the respect of his teammates, opposing players and the media. Former coach and NFL broadcast legend John Madden named Hampton to his All-Madden team six times and to his 10th Anniversary All-Madden team in 1994. Hampton’s style of play also earned him a dozen surgeries to his knees, six on each leg.

Hampton was named first-team All-Pro in 1984, and to the second-team four times. All of this added up to him being selected to the NFL’s All-Decade Team of the 1980s at defensive tackle. The Bears’ defense of the 1980s was one of the best ever assembled, and it culminated in the 1985 season when Chicago dominated the league with a 15-1 record, capped by a victory in Super Bowl XX over the New England Patriots by a score of 46-10.

He retired from the NFL following the 1990 season, having played 157 games, recording 82 sacks and 10 fumble recoveries. In 1999, when Sports Illustrated ranked its 50 greatest sports figures of the 20th century from each state, they placed Hampton at No. 35 for the state of Arkansas.

The Little Rock Touchdown Club annually presents the Dan Hampton Award to the top defensive lineman in the state on both the high school and collegiate levels. Hampton participates in the selection process each year, reviewing tapes of the candidates. He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2002 and was finally elected to the College Football Hall of Fame in 2024, an honor long overdue.