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BOB HAMPSTEAD

SELECTED TO ALL-TIME POSSUM TEAM AS B SIDE PROP

HELPING FOUND THE POSSSUMS, BOB HAMPSTEAD WAS A PLAYER, COACH AND MENTOR WITH KNOXVILLE BEFORE BECOMING GREATLY INVOLVED IN AREA HIGH SCHOOL RUGBY.


FULL NAME: ROBERT ALLISON HAMPSTEAD
POSSUM CAREER: 1980-1989
POSSUM NUMBER: 1
HEIGHT: 6-1
WEIGHT: 230 (AND UP)
POSITIONS PLAYED: PROP
OFFICES HELD: FOUNDER, CAPTAIN, PRESIDENT, MATCH SECRETARY, SOCIAL CHAIR, COACH
TEAM/PERSONAL HONORS: UT MVP (1978) UT IRON MAN (1978)
MEMORABLE GAMES/SEASONS: FROM FALL 1977 THROUGH SPRING 1978, PLAYED 50 A SIDE MATCHES FOR UT. THIRD-PLACE GAME AT MID-SOUTH RFU CHAMPIONSHIPS (1981?). "I WAS HUNGOVER LIKE A DOG. IT TOOK ME SIX BEERS TO GET KITTED UP. BUBBA RALL PUT NASHVILLE'S WING OUT OF THE GAME WITH A DEVASTATING TACKLE AS THE POSSUMS ROSE UP TO BEAT THEM BY AT LEAST THREE TRIES."
PERSONAL QOUTATIONS: "YOU HAVE TO GET YOUR MIND RIGHT TO PLAY PROP." "OLD PROPS DON'T DIE, THEY JUST FAT AWAY."
OTHER CLUBS: UT (PRESDIDENT, CAPTAIN, MATCH SECETARY; AUGUSTA (CAPTAIN); MOOSE BROTHERS CO-FOUNDER; ARCHIBALL USA (TOURING SIDE)
BIRTHDATE: 6-20-50
BIRTHPLACE: KNOXVILLE
FAMILY: WIFE, DEBBIE; SON, JOHN; DAUGHTER, EMILY
OCCUPATION: CONSTRUCTION

PAUL HAMPSTEAD

ANOTHER HAMPSTEAD INVOLVED EARLY ON WITH KNOXVILLE RUGBY WAS PAUL HAMPSTEAD, BOB'S BROTHER.

PAUL HAMPSTEAD PLAYED LOCK AND FLANKER AND WAS ALWAYS READY FOR A CIGARETTE AND BEER AFTER A MATCH.
FULL NAME: PAUL EDWARD (CLYDE) HAMPSTEAD-NAMED AFTER HIS DAD'S THREE BROTHERS, HE DROPPED CLYDE AS AN ADULT
POSSUM CAREER: 1980-1987
POSSUM NUMBER: 8
HEIGHT: 5-11
WEIGHT: 190
POSITIONS PLAYED: LOCK/FLANKER/PROP/HOOKER
MEMORABLE GAMES/SEASONS: 1976-UT VS. BIRMINGHAM, WITH PAUL AT ONE PROP WITH BROTHER BOB - BOTH SCORED TRIES IN AN 18-17 WIN, THE FIRST OVER BIRMINGHAM IN FOUR YEARS.
OTHER CLUBS: UT
FAMILY: TWO EX-WIVES; DAUGHTERS, HEATHER AND ERICA
OCCUPATION: CONSTRUCTION

MIKE HAMPSTEAD

YET ANOTHER HAMPSTEAD WHO WAS A POSSUM WAS MIKE, YOUNGER BROTHER TO BOB AND PAUL.
MIKE'S CAREER WAS MUCH SHORTER. IN KNOXVILLE'S SECOND MATCH EVER - AND MIKE'S DEBUT - HE BROKE HIS FINGER EARLY IN THE SECOND HALF AND NEVER DONNED A POSSUM JERSEY AGAIN.
"HE WAS THE SKINNY ONE OF THE FAMILY," BOB HAMPSTEAD SAID.
POSSUM NUMBER: 25

GLYNN HARTWELL

ENGLISHMAN GLYNN HARTWELL SETTLED IN AT OUTSIDE CENTER FOR A FEW A SIDE SEASONS WITH THE POSSUMS IN THE 1990s.
POSSUM CAREER: 1996-2002
POSSUM NUMBER: 182
POSITIONS PLAYED: CENTER

JAY HAWKINS

NEVER AFRAID TO BREAK OUT HIS KILT AT A MOMENTS' NOTICE, JAY HAWKINS HAD A SUCCESSFUL PLAYING CAREER THAT HE PARLAYED INTO A STRONG COACHING CAREER FOR MARYVILLE'S HIGH SCHOOL BOYS AND GIRLS. WITH THE HELP OF RICK McGHIE, HE WON STATE CHAMPIONSHIPS AND PRODUCED ALL-AMERICANS.

IT ALL STARTED WHEN HE SAW A SMALL GROUP OF KIDS THROWING AND KICKING A RUGBY BALL AROUND. SEEMS THE YOUNGSTERS HAD WATCHED RUGBY ON TV, BOUGHT A BALL, THEN TRIED TO PLAY THE GAME WITHOUT ANY FORMAL TRAINING.

HAWKINS STOPPED BY AND OFFERED HIS COACHING SERVICES FOR A SEYMOUR HIGH SCHOOL/KING'S ACADEMY RFC THAT LASTED JUST A SEAON OR TWO.
A CLUB WAS EVENTUALLY FORMED UNDER THE NAME OF MARYVILLE HIGH SCHOOL, ALTHOUGH PLAYERS FROM OTHER BLOUNT COUNTY SCHOOLS COULD JOIN THE TEAM. MARYVILLE CONTINUES TO DRAW ENOUGH INTEREST TO HAVE SEVERAL BOYS SQUADS AND A STRONG GIRLS TEAM, UNDER THE LEADERSHIP OF HAWKINS AND McGHIE, AS WELL AS THE BLOUNT COUNTY RUGBY SUPPORTERS.

FULL NAME: JAY HAWKINS
RUGBY NICKNAME: DIRK STRAUN
POSSUM CAREER: 1992-1996
POSSUM NUMBER: 120

HEIGHT: 6-0
WEIGHT: 207
POSITIONS PLAYED: PROP, LOCK, FLANKER
MEMORIES: 1994 CAYMAN ISLANDS TOUR
BIRTHDATE: 6-11-62
BIRTHPLACE: CLARKSDALE, MISS.
OTHER CLUBS: MEMPHIS STATE RFC, MEMPHIS OLD #7, CHARLESTON RFC, MARYVILLE HIGHLANDER RFC, MEMPHIS OLD BOYS RFC
RESIDES: MARYVILLE
FAMILY: WIFE, KIM; DAUGHTER, McKENZIE
OCCUPATION: RAMP MANAGER, FEDEX EXPRESS

JACK HEAD

PRE-GAME., POST-GAME, AND EVEN DURING GAMES, IT WASN'T UNUSUAL TO FIND JACK HEAD WITH A CIGARETTE IN ONE HAND AND A BEER IN THE OTHER.
JACK PLAYED FOR A LONG TIME WITH CHATTANOOGA BUT SPENT A COUPLE OF YEARS WITH THE POSSUMS.
"HE'S ONE OF THOSE GUYS THAT MAKE RUGBY MORE FUN THE LONGER YOU PLAY THE GAME," SAID PAT DORWIN. "HE WAS ALWAYS WILLING TO PLAY WHENEVER AND WHEREVER HE WAS NEEDED OR PEFECTLY CONTENT TO ENJOY HIS VICES AND WANDER THE SIDELINES."
POSSUM CAREER: 1990-1992
POSSUM NUMBER: 93
HEIGHT: 6-0
WEIGHT: 190
POSITIONS PLAYED: PROP, FLANKER, LOCK
MEMORABLE GAMES/SEASONS-MIDWEST RFU 7s CHAMPIONSHIP IN MILWAUKEE. "AFTER THE TOURNAMENT AND A GREAT NIGHT OUT, I WAS GETTING READY TO GO TO THE MIDWEST RFU MEETING. KNOXVILLE WAS UP AND READY TO GO HOME, BUT DOUG BROWN HAD NOT SHOWN UP. INSTEAD OF WAITING, BRIAN NIEKERK ASKED IF DOUG COULD RIDE BACK WITH CHATTANOOGA.
"SINCE I WAS FLYING BACK I SAID, SURE, NO PROBLEM. SO INSTEAD OF RIDING BACK IN ONE OF THE AIR-CONDITIONED VANS KNOXVILLE HAD RENTED FOR THE TRIP, DOUG HAD TO MAKE THE 12-HOUR TRIP IN A CRAMPED, NO A/C VAN."
PERSONAL QOUTATIONS: "RUGBY, NOT JUST A WAY OF LIFE, THE WAY IT IS."
BIRTHDATE: 5-16-60
BIRTHPLACE: KANSAS CITY, MO.
OTHER CLUBS: CHATTANOOGA
RESIDES: CHATTANOOGA
FAMILY: WIFE, JANET
OCCUPATION: ACCOUNTANT

DON HENNESSEY

RANGY WINGER DON HENNESSEY SPENT SOME TIME WORKING NEAR KNOXVILLE FOR SEVERAL YEARS, PLAYING SOME A SIDE WHILE BEING A REGULAR AT PRACTICE AND ON ROAD TRIPS.

"KNOXVILLE HAS ALWAYS NEEDED MORE PLAYERS LIKE DON," SAID PAT DORWIN. "GUYS YOU COULD COUNT ON TO ATTEND PRACTICE REGULARILY AND TRAVEL TO AWAY MATCHES, ESPECIALLY SINCE HE DIDN'T SEE ALL THAT MUCH A SIDE ACTION."

DORWIN DISCUSSED A TRIP TO CHICAGO, AND TRYING TO FIND WRIGLEY FIELD WHILE HENNESSEY WAS IN THE BACK OF THE VAN PLAYING POKER.

"MARTY BRADLEY WAS DRIVING AND WOULD ASK DON IF WE WERE GOING THE RIGHT WAY," DORWIN SAID. "DON WOULD BARELY LOOK UP AND TELL MARTY TO KEEP GOING.

"WELL, WE WERE IN ABOUT A 30-SQUARE MILE SECTION OF HIGH-RISE SLUMS, FILLED WITH BLACK FOLKS BREAK-DANCING AND DRINKING THEIR 40s," DORWIN CONTINUED. "SO MARTY ROLLED DOWN THE WINDOWS AND CRANKED UP THE COUNTRY MUSIC. I GOT AS LOW IN MY SEAT AS I COULD."

FULL NAME: DONALD RAYMOND HENNESSEY

RUGBY NICKNAME: CHICAGO DON
POSSUM CAREER: 1991-1994
POSSUM NUMBER: 105
HEIGHT: 6-3
WEIGHT: 200
POSITIONS PLAYED: WING
MEMORABLE GAMES/SEASONS: WHILE MANNING LEFT WING AT THE NASH BASH AGAINST GRAND RAPIDS, FLYHALF DORWIN CHIPPED DOWN THE SIDELINE AND HENNESSEY SNARED THE BOOT IN STRIDE, PICKING UP PLENTY OF YARDAGE.
OTHER CLUBS: CHICAGO LIONS

MARK HILSENROTH

A STARTER AT UT, MARK HILSENROTH SPENT A BIT OF TIME WITH THE POSSUMS BUT LEFT AFTER NOT BEING ABLE TO CRACK THE A SIDE.

POSSUM CAREER: 1996

POSSUM NUMBER: 183

JIM HIMELESKI

SPEEDY JIM HIMELESKI MANNED FULBACK FOR SEVERAL EARLY POSSUM SEASONS.

NICKNAME: "SKI"

POSSUM CAREER: 1982-1983

POSSUM NUMBER: 38

HEIGHT: 5-8

WEIGHT: 165

KARL HOFFMAN

THE FIRST-HIGH SCHOOLER TO PLAY WITH THE POSSUMS, KARL "DANCES WITH FENCES" HOFFMAN LATER TOOK ON A PYROTECHNICS CAREER.

"AND THAT'S ALL I CAN SAY ABOUT THAT," SAID FORREST GUMP.

POSSUM CAREER: 1993-1994

POSSUM NUMBER: 140

DAVE HOLLAND

ONE WOULD HARDLY RECOGNIZE FORMER POSSUM PROP DAVE HOLLAND NOWADAYS. THE ONCE BULKY HOLLAND HAS SLIMMED DOWN TO A SHELL OF HIMSELF, WEIGHING PERHAPS 180 POUNDS.

AFTER LEAVING KNOXVILLE, HE SPENT A BIT OF TIME PLAYING FOR FORT CAMPBELL BEFORE MOVING BACK TO THE AREA.

FULL NAME: DAVID ALAN HOLLAND
RUGBY NICKNAME: SUPER
POSSUM CAREER: 1995-1997
POSSUM NUMBER: 164
HEIGHT: 6-1
WEIGHT: 245 (NOW 185)
POSITIONS PLAYED: PROP, LOCK
PERSONAL QOUTATIONS: "YOU NEED A FUCKING CIGARETTE TO WAKE YOUR ASS UP BEFORE THE SECOND HALF?" ASKED TYLER HUSKEY ON A SUNDAY AT THE NASH BASH AGAINST MEMPHIS OLD #7 A DAY AFTER THE POSSUMS SOMEHOW LOST TO A TEAM OF WISCONSIN FLANKERS AND THEIR "PORN BUS."

"WHY, YOU GOT ONE?" HOLLAND UNWISELY ASKED A CLEARLY UPSET HUSKEY - AND LIVED TO TELL THE STORY OF THE POSSUMS' IMPROBABLE WIN THAT DAY.

RICH HOLLAND

RICH HOLLAND MAY HAVE HAD THE MOST STUNNING DEBUT - CERTAINLY FOR A FIRST-HALF - BY ANY POSSUM EVER.

HOLLAND TALLIED FOUR TRIES FROM WING IN HIS INITIAL APPEARANCE FOR KNOXVILLE - AND WAS PROMPTLY REPLACED AT HALF-TIME.

"I LAUGHED MY ASS OFF AT POOR RICH, BECAUSE HE PROBABLY SHOULD HAVE SCORED SEVEN OR EIGHT TRIES," SAID PAT DORWIN. "THE FACT THE SELECTORS REPLACE THE POOR GUY WAS FUNNY ENOUGH, BUT HIS SUPPOSEDLY GOOD FRIEND, REX WOLFE, STOPPED PASSING HIM THE BALL FROM OUTSIDE CENTER AFTER THE FIRST 25-MINUTES OR SO."

OBVIOUSLY, THE GAME WAS AGAINST AN OVERMATCHED SIDE (TENNESSEE TECH) AND AGAINST AN OPPOSING WING WHO WAS IN HIGH SCHOOL (A CERTAIN KNOXVILLE PLAYER WHO LET'S SAY ONCE LOST A DANCE WITH A FENCE), BUT FOUR DAMN TRIES IS FOUR DAMN TRIES.

"C'MON, LET THE GUY PLAY," DORWIN SAID. "MARTY (BRADLEY) ALREADY HAD THE MOSTLY B SIDE PLAYERS WORKING ON OTHER THINGS, TELLING THEM NOT TO SPIN THE BALL OUT ANYWAY ... FOUR TRIES! AND HE'S REPLACED! RICH AND I STILL LAUGH ABOUT THAT."

HOLLAND, OF COURSE, COULD NEVER MATCH THAT SUCCESS, AND PLAYED MOSTLY B SIDE FOR SEVERAL SEASONS BEFORE BREAKING AN ANKLE AT THE TENNESSEE 7s IN THE LATE 1990s AND RETIRING QUIETLY TO HIS HOME IN DANDRIDGE WHERE HE AND DORWIN OFTEN WATCH PACKER GAMES ON SUNDAYS.

THEY OFTEN WONDERED: "WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED TO REX WOLFE?" AFTER THE FORMER POSSUM MOVED TO AUSTRALIA BEFORE ENDING UP IN THAILAND AND IS A PROUD NEW DADDY AS OF LATE JULY 2010.

FULL NAME: RICHARD J. HOLLAND
POSSUM CAREER: 1994-1997; 2002-2003
POSSUM NUMBER: 149
HEIGHT: 6-1
WEIGHT: 190
POSITIONS PLAYED: WING
TEAM/PERSONAL HONORS: ROOKIE-OF-THE-YEAR, 1994
BIRTHDATE: 8-28-68

BIRTHPLACE: MILWAUKEE

JOHN HOLLIDAY

FORMER AUSTRALIAN SCHOOLBOY LEGEND JOHN

HOLLIDAY HELPED TURN AROUND THE POSSUMS THROUGH HIS COACHING IN THE EARLY-1990s.

POSSUM CAREER: 1992-1994

POSSUM NUMBER: 121

PHIL HOPSON

GRITTY SCRUMHALF PHIL HOPSON MOVED OVER TO THE POSSUMS THROUH THE UT PIPELINE AND WAS SLOTTED IN AT SCRUMHALF FOR SEVERAL A SIDE YEARS.

FULL NAME: PHILLIP STEPHEN HOPSON
POSSUM CAREER: 1993-1997
POSSUM NUMBER: 141
HEIGHT: 5-11
WEIGHT: 175
POSITIONS PLAYED: SCRUMHALF
OTHER CLUBS: UT

PERRY HOFFMAN

PERRY HOFFMAN WAS THE POSSUMS' VERSION OF BASEBALL PLAYER TIM RAINES - YOU NEVER KNEW WHAT HOFFMAN MIGHT HAVE STASHED IN HIS RUGBY SHORTS.

POSSUM CAREER: 1987-1989

POSSUM NUMBER: 57

POSITIONS PLAYED: WING

HEIGHT: 5-9

WEIGHT: 190

TYLER HUSKEY

SURLY. INTENSE. LEADER. GRUMPY. MEAN.
"YOU PICK THE ADJECTIVE TO DESCRIBE TYLER," SAID PAT DORWIN. "I LIVE IN SEVIERVILLE - THAT'S TOO CLOSE TO PISS THE MAN OFF."
A CAPTAIN OF BOTH UT AND KNOXVILLE, HUSKEY'S NATURAL LEADERSHIP SKILLS CAME FROM DEEP INSIDE THE ENGINE ROOM AT PROP. THIS WAS STILL IN THE DAY WHEN PROPS WEREN'T, WELL, IN THE BEST OF SHAPE.
BUT HUSKEY HELPED CHANGE THAT WITH HIS STRONG PHYSIQUE - MINUS THE USUAL FRONT ROW BELLY (YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE).
CAPTAINING HIS WRESTLING AND GOLF TEAMS AT SEVIER COUNTY HIGH SCHOOL, HUSKEY WAS PART OF ABOUT A DECADE LONG RUN THAT SAW ATHLETES FROM DOLLY PARTON'S HOME COUNTY PLAY AT UT. MANY CAME FROM SCHS, BUT SEYMOUR, PIGEON FORGE AND GATLINBURG-PITTMAN HIGH SCHOOLS PRODUCED FUTURE VOLS.
HUSKEY, WHO OFTEN LOOKED LIKE HE JUST WOKE UP AFTER SLEEPING ON A BED OF FIRE-TIPPED ROOFING NAILS, DIDN'T ALWAYS SEEM LIKE THE MOST APPROACHABLE PERSON IN THE WORLD, BUT HE'S ONE OF THE NICEST GUYS YOU'LL MEET - AND ALWAYS READY TO SUPPPORT YOU ON THE PITCH.
"I GOT TO KNOW TYLER THROUGH A FANTASY BASEBALL LEAGUE JOHN SHAW STARTED," SAID DORWIN. "THIS WAS BEFORE AL GORE INVENTED THE INTERNET, SO WE RELIED ON A STAT SERVICE TO SEND US WEEKLY REPORTS AND LATER DID THEM BY HAND THROUGH USA TODAY'S SPORTS SECTION WHEN THE STAT PROVIDER LEFT US HANGING MIDWAY THROUGH THE SEASON."
THANKS TO THE INTERNET, THE TWO AND OTHER TEAMMATES GOT INVOLVED WITH LATER LEAGUES.
"IN FACT, AS I WRITE THIS (SUNDAY, APRIL 18, 2010) TYLER'S STOMPING ME 11-1 IN OUR HEAD-TO-HEAD LEAGUE," DORWIN SAID. "DAMN YANKEES FAN."
FULL NAME: TYLER C. HUSKEY
POSSUM CAREER: 1994-1998; 2002 -2008
POSSUM NUMBER: 150
HEIGHT: 6-1
WEIGHT: 215
POSITIONS PLAYED: PROP
OFFICES HELD: CAPTAIN
TEAM/PERSONAL HONORS: CLUB MEMBER OF THE YEAR; MVP; WHINEY HINEY
MEMORABLE GAMES/SEASONS: 1995 DOGWOOD ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM; 1998 MIDWEST RFU DIVISION III CHAMPIONS
OTHER CLUBS: UT, MEMPHIS
BIRTHDATE: 12-16-70
BIRTHPLACE: KNOXVILLE
RESIDES: PITTMAN CENTER
FAMILY: WIFE, RACHEL; THREE SONS
OCCUPATION: LAWYER