By Wesley Mahan

Sports Writer

 

NORMAN, Okla. – It’s one of the most unsung positions in football. One never hears about it until a mistake is made. Yet, it’s one of the most important – deep snapper on field goals and extra points.

 

This season on the University of Oklahoma Sooners football team, Cherokee Ben Hampton is filling that position.

 

In 2006, Hampton graduated from Grove High School in Delaware County as an all-state offensive lineman. Coming out of high school, he was ranked 10th nationally as a deep snapper.

 

Hampton didn’t receive many college offers, but a former high school coach at Grove offered him a scholarship to come to Northeastern Oklahoma A&M in Miami to deep snap for its football team.

 

“I jumped on the opportunity to be able to be close to home and have my school paid for,” Hampton said.

 

After two years at NEO, Hampton again went through the recruiting process. He talked to some NCAAA Division I schools, but eventually settled on OU. It was a tough choice since his grandfather Kelly was an offensive lineman at Oklahoma State in the 1960s.

 

“I grew up an OSU fan my whole life, so it was a little bittersweet coming here. But I felt like OU was the place for me to continue going to school and finish up my football career,” Hampton said.

 

He said he is proud to be on the OU football team and described the experience as huge, with the biggest difference between playing at NEO and OU being that 84,000 people attend every OU home game.

 

Hampton has already picked up some awards since arriving at OU.

 

“After the Cincinnati game, Carter Whitson, our holder; Jimmy Stevens, our kicker; and I received game balls. Then on Monday we were named the special teams players of the week. We were also named special teams players of the week for the TCU game,” he said.

 

Hampton credits a lot of his success to Shane Hackney, who is considered the guru of deep snapping in football. Hackney helped Hampton hone his craft at his camps and has aided Hampton and others with the recruiting process.

 

But football isn’t the only thing Hampton thinks about. He said he has chosen a major that he enjoys and helps people.

 

“At NEO, I was trying to complete the courses to get into dental school,” he said. “I graduated from NEO with an associate’s degree in natural sciences. When I got to OU, I was going to major in Native American studies, but I had too many science classes to do it, so I changed my major to chemistry.”

 

He said he wants to complete his degree, go to dental school and then work for the Indian Health Service.

 

“I want to get accepted to dental school and try to get a job with Indian Health Services. OU has a health science center in Oklahoma City and a dental school, so I can finish up there,” Hampton said.

 

His desire to give back to the Cherokee people isn’t something he took on recently either. In high school, he served on the Cherokee Nation Youth Council and even knows some of the Cherokee language, thanks to his grandmother. He said he still takes a Cherokee language class at OU.

 

“When people ask me if I’m Cherokee, not only can I say yes, but I can enlighten them on other parts of being Cherokee,” he said.