Troy Hambrick is going to prison? Consider me not surprised.
My first job out of college was writing for The Tampa Tribune's Pasco County bureau, where I covered the Pasco High football team led by brothers Darren and Troy Hambrick. Darren was clearly the better all-around athlete -- future NFL linebacker, 20 ppg in basketball, one-man contender for the state track team title -- but Troy was the better football player. One of the great things about covering high school football is when you run across a larger than life player like Troy Hambrick. He literally felt he should score every time he touched the ball, and he damn near did. He was bigger, stronger and faster than everyone else on the field. Watching him was a privilege.
But you knew major trouble was waiting. I just thought it would find Darren Hambrick first. He was such a bad guy that at one of his track meets he literally punched a girl right in front of me. I was interviewing him, this girl came up and said something silly, and he smashed her. Then he turns to me and says, "Sorry, she's on crack."
I've never known if he was serious or kidding about the crack, but I've never forgotten the incident -- would you? -- and I've always wondered how long before Darren Hambrick found trouble. Turns out, it didn't take long.
And now Troy has found prison. What a waste of talent those brothers turned out to be.
