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QB, WR use time wisely to improve

UNIVERSITY PARK – At the end of the second quarter against Northwestern, Christian Hackenberg was desperate to do anything to spark his offense. Penn State had only one first down and had yet to spot the ball on the Wildcats’ end of the field.

In a drive that began at 8:10 in the second quarter, a couple of short passes allowed the Nittany Lions to move the ball 11 yards. In need for a big, breakout play, the quarterback found redshirt freshman DaeSean Hamilton downfield. Hamilton leaped into the air and snagged the ball for a 51-yard reception, the longest of his career.

The play was reminiscent of what the duo has been working on since summer.

Hamilton and Hackenberg spent extra time together this summer working on signals and plays to adjust to the new playbook.

The extra working has payed off.

After the bye week, Hamilton is still leading the Big Ten with 7.2 catches per game. The receiver has 36 catches for 502 yards, averaging 100.4 yards per game.

All of the extra work comes with purpose.

Hamilton suffered a wrist injury toward the end of his senior season in high school. Initially thinking it was just a sprain, Hamilton didn’t do anything about it until he arrived at Penn State. The doctors found a broken bone in his wrist that would need to be surgically repaired.

Having to redshirt his freshman year because of the injury was not easy for Hamilton, leading to a lot of complaining and longing to be out on the field. But his parents knew the importance of promoting patience.

“They basically had no pity for me, making sure I kept my head up,” Hamilton said.

The Penn State faithful who follow Hamilton on Twitter might have found a theme in the receiver’s life.

Ever since Hamilton was a senior in high school, he said his parents, Max and Johnie, have given him inspirational words he could wake up to and live by each day.

“That’s basically what got me through last year,” Hamilton said. “…They knew that I was down on myself a lot and that I was upset I wasn’t playing. They would send me these little five-second messages in the morning, tweet at me sometimes.”

Not only did Hamilton think about his parents in rough times, he also thought about his older brother, Darius, who was diagnosed with autism when Hamilton was young.

At first, it was difficult for Hamilton to understand why his brother never spoke a word to him.

“When I finally became of an age when I could understand, I realized he might be my big brother, but I’m going to have to look after him,” Hamilton said.

Growing up in a military family – Hamilton’s father was a member of the United States Marine Corps was not the most forgiving structure to take care of a child with autism.

Hamilton said he often looked after his brother. When they were at school, he would make sure he was doing well. At home, Hamilton would help Darius around the house. But caring for his brother was just as beneficial as taking some extra throws with Hackenberg in the summer.

“It made me realize that I have a lot of maturing to do,” Hamilton said.

Whenever things aren’t quite going Hamilton’s way or he finds himself in a difficult situation, he said he is grounded by what he has learned from his brother.

That is, plenty of other people have it worse.

Coach James Franklin said he recognizes Hamilton has a bright head on his shoulders.

Because the receiver didn’t start practicing until two days before the Blue-White Game in the spring, much of his learning process was him taking mental reps before he could ever do them physically.

Once Hamilton was finally able to start displaying his skills on the practice field, it was almost like he never missed any time.

“He knew the offense pretty much inside and out, could play any of the three positions for the wide receivers,” Franklin said.

Since Hamilton was recruited from Mountain View High School by Bill O’Brien’s staff, the receiver said he was weary of the transition when Franklin was hired. The new coach had never seen Hamilton play and with his youth and his injury, the receiver was afraid he wouldn’t get the opportunity to make a good impression.

Luckily, the team hit it off with Franklin’s positive attitude right away. And, in turn, Franklin has been impressed with everything about Hamilton, from his style to his performance on the field.

“Have you seen his hair? He’s kind of got a box, but they’re kind of like sticking up all over the place on his head,” Franklin said with a laugh. “He’s kind of his own man, which I appreciate about him.”

Franklin understands that Hamilton is a unique person in personality and style, but knows that all of that mixed together has made Hamilton as successful as he has been.

Hamilton is just focused perfecting his craft and once he puts on his helmet to cover up his wild hair, he remembers how his patience and extra work can pay off.

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