| No. 69, 95, 79 | |||||||||
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| Position: | Tackle Guard | ||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||
| Born: | (1973-02-14)February 14, 1973 (age 52) Camden, New Jersey, U.S. | ||||||||
| Height: | 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) | ||||||||
| Weight: | 331 lb (150 kg) | ||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||
| High school: | Camden | ||||||||
| College: | North Carolina State | ||||||||
| NFL draft: | 1994: 3rd round, 102nd pick | ||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||
| Career highlights and awards | |||||||||
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| Career NFL statistics | |||||||||
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George Russell Hegamin (born February 14, 1973) is an American former professionalfootball player who was anoffensive lineman in theNational Football League (NFL) for theDallas Cowboys,Philadelphia Eagles, andTampa Bay Buccaneers. He playedcollege football atNorth Carolina State University.
Hegamin started to play organizedfootball as a junior atCamden High School inCamden, New Jersey. He receivedAll-American honorable-mention and first-team All-state honors, as a seniordefensive tackle.[1]
He accepted a football scholarship fromNorth Carolina State University, where he was converted into anoffensive tackle. As aredshirt freshman in 1992, he won theright tackle starting job and receivedFreshman All-American and second-teamAll-ACC honors.
In 1993, he was platooned atright tackle with Scott Woods and was a part of anoffensive line that surrendered only 14 sacks (third lowest in school history). At the end of the season, he bypassed his final two years of college to enter theNFL draft, in order to help his mother, who was diagnosed with cancer.
Hegamin was selected by theDallas Cowboys in the third-round (102nd overall) of the1994 NFL draft, and was the largest player picked in the draft.[2] As a rookie, he was de-activated for the first seven games of the season. He appeared in three contests, before being de-activated for the rest of the regular season and the playoffs.
The next year, he appeared in the season opener, before being declared inactive for the next 12 games. With injuries along theoffensive line, he was active but didn't play in the final three contests of the regular season. He was a part of theSuper Bowl XXX championship team.
In1996, he was allocated to theFrankfurt Galaxy of theWorld League of American Football, where he was a starter atright tackle and earned All-World honors. With the departure ofRon Stone infree agency, he was used as the Cowboys top backup for theoffensive line. He had his first start, while filling-in for an injuredMark Tuinei in the season finale against theWashington Redskins.
In his first years in the league, he saw little action as a backup of arguably some of the bestoffensive lines inNFL history. In1997, with theoffensive line beginning to show its age, he started a total of nine games while replacing injured starters. Seven starts in place ofMark Tuinei atleft tackle and two atleft guard in place ofNate Newton. Although he was solid at run blocking, he didn't have the agility needed for pass blocking, so the Cowboys replaced him atleft tackle withLarry Allen in passing downs situations.
On February 19,1998, he signed a four-year contract as afree agent with thePhiladelphia Eagles.[3] The Eagles used him atright guard, where he started six games.
The next year, with the arrival of new head coachAndy Reid, he walked out oftraining camp for one day, after being told of his demotion in favor of rookieDoug Brzezinski. When he came back, Reid made him push ablocking sled the length of a practice field under the heat, in front of some players, coaches, executives and the media. He eventually was cut on September 4,1999.[4]
On November 10,1999, he signed with theTampa Bay Buccaneers and backed up bothoffensive tackle positions for two seasons. He made two starts during his time with the team, including the2000 Wild-Card playoff loss against thePhiladelphia Eagles, where he was overmatched atleft tackle playing againstPro BowlerHugh Douglas.[5] He was released on September 2,2001.[6]
Hegamin works as the Senior Manager of Players Services for theNFL Players Association. He is also theoffensive lineman coach at theUnder Armour National Combine and Elite Football Camp. Current OL Coach at IMG Academy in FL. He is now on the staff of the Colorado Buffalos under Coach Prime.