Hanspard could be next great Falcon running back

Web posted July 30, 1997

By Tony Fabrizio
Morris News Service

SUWANEE, Ga. - The blooper reel that is the Atlanta Falcons' history includes scarce little footage of running backs. For whatever reason, the franchise has had rugged and prolific runners through the years.

The tradition harkens to the '70s with the gritty Dave Hampton. The '80s brought William Andrews, Gerald Riggs and overachieving John Settle. Even during the run-and-shoot stench of the '90s, Erric Pegram, Craig Heyward and Jamal Anderson were 1,000 yard rushers in 1993, '95 and '96, respectively.

Byron Hanspard could be the next substantial talent.

A consensus first-team All-American last year at Texas Tech, where he rushed for 3,782 yards and 28 touchdowns in his final two seasons, Hanspard has done enough in pro apparel to suggest the Falcons stole him 10 picks into the second round.

With his cameo appearance in last Saturday's scrimmage against the Tennessee Oilers - he carried six times for 34 yards - Hanspard again showed he belongs on the field this fall.

If it's possible for the winner of the Doak Walker Award as the nation's premier running back to be better than advertised, Hanspard has been that. The fastest of Atlanta's backs (4.41 in the 40), but also the smallest (5-10, 198), Hanspard has shown he can run both in the open field and through gridlock traffic.

``I knew he was quick,'' Reeves said. ``But he's got more quickness than what I thought - to where he's similar to what Gale Sayers used to be, where he's going one way and he cuts so quickly that he makes no move to it. I don't know what it is, torque, or whatever, that enables you to be going to your left and cut back without any hesitation. But he's got the ability to do that, and therefore, he runs through tackles. That's what Sayers did.''

We'll defer all other comparisons to NFL legends until, say, Hanspard plays in his first pre-season game Friday night at Detroit.

``I've never been more ready for an opportunity in my life,'' Hanspard said.

Hanspard rushed for 2,084 yards last year, fifth most in Division I-A history, and he did it in a good conference (the Big 12) against defenses designed to maul him. Baylor held him to 287 yards rushing, Oklahoma State to 272 and Texas A&M, which had the nation's fourth-ranked defense, to 198.

Georgia got a piece of Hanspard last September, or was that a piece of his jersey? A veteran Bulldog defensive coaching staff scouted and studied and schemed before the matchup, and still Hanspard's damage was 214 yards and two touchdowns in a narrow Georgia victory.

``I thought he was as tough a back as we've faced between the hedges,'' said Bulldog defensive coordinator Joe Kines, noting that he spent time this off-season reviewing the game film.

Hanspard's competitiveness is surpassed only by his outspokenness about his religious convictions. A licensed minister in the Lay Witness of Christ International, Hanspard rarely goes a sentence without a reference to God.

To this day, he claims he chose Texas Tech over Notre Dame, Colorado, Nebraska and Texas A&M after he saw a shadow of Texas Tech's logo appear on a building at his Dallas-area high school. One night while taking a shower, he says, the Lord told him to attend Texas Tech.

``The Lord has blessed me with this talent so that I can spread His word, and as soon as I can get you all (media) to write what I say exactly, it'll be even better,'' Hanspard said.

Hanspard would rather the media not relate everything, such as the fact he received an 0.0 grade-point average last fall, and that the resulting furor led to proposed legislation in Texas. He attributes the embarrassment to his decision to enter the draft after his junior year.

Virtually certain to start the season behind Anderson and possibly Harold Green, Hanspard has given every indication he'll be, if not the Kansas Comet revisited, a nice NFL talent.