Tragedy at the River walk

Being a young college student in the 7th most populated city in the United States involves many things. One of those things includes voyaging to the Riverwalk from time to time. However, in Hampton’s case this specific excursion to the bars of downtown did not end well. The day began with a narrow victory in the semifinal game of the Division III football playoffs. This propelled the Trinity team to its first and only National Championship game.  It was a monumental moment in school history and would bring great exposure for the program with the game being aired on ESPN. Roy and the football team celebrated the win accordingly with a large party, of course. Jerheme Urban, a friend and teammate of Roy’s, explains “My future wife, but girlfriend at the time and I took him home that night. The last time I saw him he was asleep in his room.”. At some point in the evening, Roy was roused from his sleep by a group of individuals and coerced to take a trip to a bar on the Riverwalk. It was there, according to the police report, Hampton “tried to grab (the officer’s) arm”, and “had a strong smell of intoxicants on his breath, bloodshot eyes, slurred speech, and was unsteady on his feet” . The star QB was arrested for Public Intoxication. After an investigation into the incident by school officials, the decision was cast down to suspend him for the championship game the next week. This was devastating for Hampton. Winning a national championship was perhaps one of his biggest athletic goals. Head coach, Steve Mohr, summed up the importance of the game pretty well when he said “I told the guys this would be the pinnacle of their football career, especially for the seniors,”. However, the senior that led them there was not going to be able to reap the benefits of years of hard work and dedication. The emotional toll taken on Roy for letting his team and university down was a great one. According to Urban, it haunted Roy throughout the rest of his life. His brazen persona and heroic actions on the field endeared him to many; he was the star of the show. When he was no longer able to do the thing he loved and  a hole began to form inside of him. Sadly, he was never able to repair the hole, but instead chose to use drugs and alcohol intermittently throughout his post athletic career as a means to cope with emotional trauma.