Todd Hammel: Happy Where He Is
Tom Ando
Thursday May 24, 2001
In the game, Hammel was 18 of 34 for 279 with six touchdowns and one interception, earning him game MVP honors. Hammel has been going at it in the Arena Football League for almost a decade now, and he doesn’t play just for the money like most professional athletes. He plays for something a little bit closer to his heart.
 Todd Hammel looks forward to the rest of his time in the AFL. Image courtesy of Tom Ando |
In his junior year of high school at Durant (Oklahoma), Hammel won the state championships. At Stephen F. Austin College, he set all-time marks for completions with 544 on a record 1,061 attempts, yards with 8,631, and touchdowns with 65. He was an NCAA Division 1 AA All American in 1990. His senior year, he lost the national championship game to Georgia Southern by 3 points, but it wasn’t until 1992 that he would join the league that would help him make history.
"I was coming out of the world league and the coach from the Texans called me up and asked me what I thought about playing arena football,” said Hammel. I thought I`d just give it a try up in `92. I gave it a shot in Dallas"
In two seasons with the Texans, Hammel threw for 67 touchdowns and ran for two more. Then it was on to Fort Worth to play for the Cavalry where he threw for 1,745 yards and 28 touchdowns, while adding five more on the ground.
In 1995, Hammel joined the Milwaukee Mustangs and every season there was a fireworks display, piling up the numbers that make him one of the all time quarterbacks in the league. In 1996, his first year with the Mustangs, Hammel threw 31 touchdowns. He threw 41, and also had 12 rushing yards. In 1997, he threw 44 touchdowns, but 1998 was perhaps Hammel’s best season, as he threw for 3100 yards and 60 touchdowns. In 1999, Hammel threw 48 touchdowns and eight more via the ground attack.
In 2000, Hammel suffered a back injury that would keep him out for most of the season. At the end of year, he was unemployed until an old friend from Houston came calling.
“I had back surgery last year, and I kept checking out the jobs and Robert got hurt down here before the season, so I knew (ThunderBears coach Steve) Thonn because he was my offensive coordinator when I was quarterback in `97 with Milwaukee, so it sounded good.”
On February 16, 2001, the Arena Football League announced that its board of directors had voted to purchase the ThunderBears from the Houston Rockets organization, which meant the team would play all of its home games at neutral sites. Even though he knew about this before the season, Hammel still decided to sign with the T-Bears.
“I knew it would be tough but I just wanted to play this year and I thought it was a great opportunity,” said Hammel. “It`s kind of close to home and where I`ve been playing. I knew it would be rough traveling but I thought I`d give it a shot. We`ve been doing a good job so far.”
At age 34, Hammel is still tearing up the league, looking to put his records far out of reach. This season, Hammel has thrown for 26 touchdowns in just six games, and has rushed for four.
Now in the middle of his 10th arena season, Hammel is enjoying what he does, and doesn’t see any reason to make that extra step to the NFL. “I had a shot back in 1990 when I was drafted by Tampa. I enjoy Arena Football, so I`m not really interested (in the NFL) anymore. If the opportunity ever came about, and it was a sure thing, yes, but right now, I`m just sticking to Arena Football.”
Hearing a player say that they don’t really want to make it back to the NFL would stun some, but there is a great reason in Todd Hammel’s case.
“I think it`s a great opportunity for the fans in the arena football league. They`re close to us, and most of the time after the games we`re there to sign autographs,” said Hammel. “We don`t make the big bucks in the Arena Football League, so they can kind of compare to us, playing-wise, just being a part of it. I think they enjoy the game.”
"Touchdown" Tom Ando is a free lance writer from South Buffalo, NY and has been covering the Arena Football League in one capacity or another since the 2000 season, when he was 17 years old. Tom Currently writes for Sports & Leisure Magazine in Buffalo covering the NLL's Buffalo Bandits and NCAA Division I football. In 2001, Tom was the only writer in the country to cover the Houston "Travelin' " Thunderbears, where he befriended his mentor John F. "Hondo" Hahn.
