Hampton on 55 Games

  • last year
Dominique Hampton has 55 career game appearances for the UW.
Transcript
00:00 >> You played 55 games and I don't think anybody's ever topped that.
00:05 >> Really? >> 130 seasons of Husky football.
00:07 >> Well, that's actually news to me.
00:08 I haven't heard anything about that until just now.
00:11 But it's quite an accomplishment.
00:13 >> How is your health after 55 trips into battle?
00:16 >> It's football, you get dinged up a little bit.
00:19 But we have a great medical staff that's able to back me up every day and
00:23 get me back on the field and doing what I love.
00:26 >> And this season you were named All Pac 12 Honorable Mention.
00:29 So you got some recognition for what you do.
00:32 Is that pretty satisfying after all of these years, all these games you play?
00:37 >> Yeah, it's definitely something I've been looking forward to receiving from
00:40 early on in my career, like high school.
00:42 And blessed to be able to be put in a position for
00:45 my team to make plays throughout the year and get that accomplishment.
00:48 >> Dominic, how did this Washington program go from 4 and
00:53 8 to college football?
00:54 >> Just resilience on the team.
00:58 A lot of the players we had in that 4 and 8 season are still here.
01:01 And you have to be at the bottom sometimes to win.
01:05 And it helped us being at the bottom knowing how bad we really want this.
01:09 We don't want 8 Ls on our stat sheet.
01:13 And a new coaching staff coming in, new voices.
01:17 It just gave us all inspiration and we all locked in and knew we could do this.
01:21 We can get what we want to if we put our mind to it, and we did.
01:24 >> You said you played for Georgia and he's caught touchdowns in four appearances.
01:29 So he's got some experience going into a game like this.
01:31 >> Yeah, big play receiver as well.
01:34 A physical receiver is gonna make you work for the ball at the catch point.
01:37 And we've been working on that this week, playing through the hands,
01:40 getting your head around, being able to play the ball.
01:42 >> Does that duo remind you of anybody you faced in the Pac-12 this year?
01:45 >> Yeah, it reminds me of people I face every day.
01:49 >> Yeah, practice.
01:50 Yeah, sure.
01:50 >> Yeah, it reminds me of the receivers I have to face literally every day.
01:54 We got a couple of them, so yeah.
01:56 >> How much does practice, seeing Rome and
02:00 the rest of those guys kind of prepare you for?
02:02 >> It for sure prepares you, for sure prepares you.
02:05 Last year, a lot of people didn't know, but going into the season,
02:08 I was just guarding J-Mac all year.
02:10 And I was in my head, I'm like, this is a tough cover, someone's gonna have an issue.
02:13 And then he went out in the season and had 1,100 yards, whatever he had.
02:17 So I'm like, all right, I know what we're going against in practice every day.
02:20 And it kind of gives you motivation, you lock it up in practice,
02:24 you can put this on tape in practice, you can do it in game.
02:26 So it's just confidence builder.
02:28 >> Through your 55 games and all these seasons,
02:32 what's been a low for you and a high for you individually?
02:35 >> Yeah, that's a good question.
02:37 Well, my biggest low was definitely when we played Michigan,
02:40 we went out to Ann Arbor.
02:41 I had a personal flag against Blake Quorum at the time, and
02:47 it kind of put me in the doghouse for the rest of the season.
02:49 And I didn't play for probably like eight, nine weeks.
02:52 And it was just a big mental thing for me cuz I didn't know where else to go to.
02:57 Football was my escape, but I couldn't get on the field.
03:00 So that was probably my biggest low, and then my biggest high is at this moment now.
03:05 So I believe the low, you gotta have lows to get to the highs.