Joe Hamilton (American football)

Joseph Fitzgerald Hamilton (born March 13, 1977) is a former American college and professional football player who was a quarterback in three different professional leagues. He played college football for the Georgia Institute of Technology, earned All-American recognition and won several national awards. He played professionally, most recently for the Orlando Predators of the Arena Football League. After his playing career ended, Hamilton became an administrator and coach. He currently serves as the running backs coach for Georgia State University.

College career
Hamilton accepted an athletic scholarship to attend Georgia Tech, where he played for the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets football team from 1996 to 1999. He set Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) career records for total offense (10,640 yards), touchdown passes (65) and total touchdowns (83). As a senior in 1999, he was recognized as a consensus first-team All-American, won the Davey O'Brien Award, and was a finalist for the Heisman Trophy, finishing as the runner-up in the Heisman voting behind Wisconsin running back Ron Dayne. In 2002 he was named as one of the fifty members of the ACC 50th Anniversary Football Team.

Professional career
Due to his lack of prototypical height for an NFL quarterback (standing just 5'10"/1.78 m), he fell to the 7th round of the 2000 NFL Draft before being drafted by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. In three years with the Buccaneers he only played four downs in a single regular-season game. In 2002 the Buccaneers allocated Hamilton to NFL Europe, where he led the Frankfurt Galaxy to 5-2 record in 2002 before suffering a severe knee injury (torn ACL).  He spent the entire 2002 NFL season on injured reserve and was released by the Buccaneers at the end of the season.   He received a Super Bowl ring following the Buccaneers' victory in Super Bowl XXXVII.

He signed with the Arena Football League's Orlando Predators in 2004 and guided the team to a 9-5 record and the playoffs, despite suffering another knee injury and missing two and a half games.

He was then signed by the Indianapolis Colts in 2004, reuniting with former Buccaneers coach Tony Dungy, but only saw limited action in one game before being released during the season.

He returned to the Orlando Predators where he was the starting quarterback through the 2006 season. He has a 32-15 record as the Predators' starter and led them to ArenaBowl XX in 2006, losing 69-61 to the Chicago Rush. With a win, Hamilton would have become the first player in history to own both a Super Bowl and ArenaBowl ring. In the 2006 off-season, he was released by the Orlando Predators and has yet to sign with another team or officially announce his retirement.

Post-playing career
He returned to school, and received his degree in History, Technology, and Society in August 2007. He was named the Assistant Director of Player Personnel at his alma mater, Georgia Tech. On May 6, 2008, Hamilton was arrested by the Georgia Tech Police Department for DUI, hit and run, marijuana possession, and violation of the open container law. Hamilton resigned from Georgia Tech on May 7. On May 7, 2008, Joe Hamilton offered his resignation to Coach Paul Johnson and Georgia Tech Athletics Director Dan Radakovich. Quoting Coach Paul Johnson, "Today, I sadly accepted Joe's resignation. I know he has great love and concern for this program and always will. Both athletic director Dan Radakovich and I made it clear to Joe that we would offer any support he requires in the coming weeks and into the future. Joe will always be a part of the Yellow Jacket family."

In 2010, he resurrected his coaching career when he became a recruiting intern at Georgia State, which had launched its Georgia State Panthers football team that year. In June 2011, he joined the Panthers' full-time staff as running backs coach.

Collegiate awards and honors

 * 1996 - Four ACC Rookie of the Week Awards, Runner-up ACC Rookie of the Year
 * 1997 - Two ACC Offensive Back of the Week Awards, Georgia Tech MVP for the Year, MVP of 1997 Carquest Bowl vs West Virginia
 * 1998 - One ACC Offensive Back of the Week Award, 1st Team All-ACC Quarterback, Co-MVP of 1999 Gator Bowl against Notre Dame, led the team to ending 7 year losing streak to the Georgia
 * 1999 - Davey O'Brien Award winner, Runner-up to the 1999 Heisman Trophy, 1st Team All-America Quarterback, 1st Team All-ACC Quarterback, Three ACC Offensive Back of the Week Awards, defeated University of Georgia 51-48 for second straight year in wild overtime victory
 * 2000 - Anthony J. McKelvin Award, ACC Male Athlete of the Year
 * 2002 - ACC 50th Anniversary Football Team
 * 2005 - ACC Football Legends - Inaugural Class
 * 2007 - Received degree from Georgia Tech in History, Technology and Society