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Mike Hintons road to the NFL Draft

Written by Wade Peery
Tuesday, 29 April 2008
The path to the NFL Draft is certainly not an easy one, not by any stretch of the imagination. Most of the players in the draft are "elite" athletes, the crème de la crème, the top of the ladder. Athletically, they have very few counterparts. I mean honestly, how many running backs have you ever heard of squatting 555 pounds?!(Besides Oregon running back Jonathan Stewart). Just to be in the mix for the NFL Draft is quite a privilege. Of the 9,000 college players that make it to the collegiate level, only 310 are selected for the NFL scouting combine, which factors very heavily into the draft process. I'm not a mathematician, but those are pretty steep odds. Of course what we always hear about in the mainstream media are the first round picks, the "locks" to be future NFL stars, such as Chris Long, Matt Ryan, and Glenn Dorsey. What we don't hear about are players like Minnesota State Mankato's Mike Hinton. Mike has a lot in common with many of those first round picks. You see, he too, was very highly recruited coming out of high school. Only he has traveled a much different path to his chance at NFL stardom. Hinton was one of the top defensive backs in the state of North Carolina coming out of Hugh M. Cummings High School in Burlington, North Carolina. In 2000, he tallied 98 tackles, eight interceptions, 11 pass breakups, and four sacks en route to being named all-city, all-conference, and all-region as a junior. Throughout his high school career, Hinton snagged a whopping 19 interceptions. He was also a standout receiver for Cummings, hauling in 24 touchdowns in his high school career. As much as he excelled on the gridiron, you could make the argument that Hinton's "natural habitat" was the track. He was an absolute phenom on the track in high school, earning all-state honors four years. Hinton reeled in MVP honors at the North Carolina state track meet during his last two seasons of high school. On top of all of that, he set the state record in the 300 intermediate hurdles and a conference record in the 110 high hurdles. Overall, he racked up 5 individual state titles in track, despite only running until his junior year. The Burlington, North Carolina native was named an All-American in the spring of 2002. Not surprisingly Hinton had offers from Clemson, East Carolina, and N.C. State, and UNC coming out of high school, but decided to go to attend Hargrave Military Academy in Chatham, Virginia for his senior season. There he teamed up with current Cincinnati Bengals linebacker Ahmad Brooks to give Hargrave one of the more dominant defenses ever seen on a postgraduate roster. Rivals.com rated Hargrave as the top prep school in the country that year after the Bulldogs coasted to a 9-1 record. On top of that, Hinton posted an eye-gouging 4.41 40 yard dash time at the December combine at Hargrave in 2002. The scholarship offers starting pouring in from every direction. Top-notch football programs such as Florida State, Tennessee, Michigan, Louisville, and Virginia Tech all came calling for his services on the gridiron. Many recruiting services figured he was a lock to go to N.C. State, but after visiting Virginia Tech's campus late in the process and speaking with Frank Beamer, he decided to commit to the Hokies and call Blacksburg home. Life was good for Mike Hinton, after all he had no reason to complain, he was one of the more highly regarded members of Virginia Tech's 2003 recruiting class, a class that included two future stars at linebacker with Vince Hall and Xavier Adibi. Hinton ran into some trouble at Virginia Tech and was eventually kicked off the team by coach Frank Beamer. After being kicked off the team at Virginia Tech, Hinton ended up at Ohio University in 2005, but sat out due to NCAA transfer rules. That spring the campus was buzzing about the prospect Ohio had landed from Virginia Tech. I had heard of Hinton, but once I saw him for myself I was even more impressed. I watched from the Peden Stadium tower as Hinton would always be the first player out to practice. His physique was cut from pure granite and he would always have his white Under Armour cap on jumping around and warming up before practice. Physically, he was very impressive; he looked like something straight out of an Under Armour commercial. During the spring of 2006, Hinton had no problems at Ohio University. He stayed out of trouble and was just an enjoyable guy to be around. He was well-liked by his teammates in Athens and he brought with him excellent knowledge of all the former players that he played with throughout his football career. I was a student volunteer at practices during the spring of 2006, operating the clock for the practices, so I got the chance to watch Mike much more than the average scout would. He was an excellent safety with tremendous range. The biggest thing I remember about Mike was his ability to lay the big hit. He delivered bone-rattling hits across the middle. Perhaps the biggest hit of spring ball for the Bobcats came when Hinton delivered a jarring hit to receiver Scott Mayle, who was running a crossing route across the middle of the field. Safety was clearly his natural position and I was convinced that Hinton was going to be a star for the Bobcats in the MAC. His football instincts were excellent, he had good speed, and he could hit like a pile of bricks. I wasn't the only one who thought the former two-sport standout was going to be a star in the Mid-American Conference. Hinton was named Preseason MAC Defensive Newcomer of the Year by the Sporting News. All the pieces were in place, but late in fall camp of 2006 Ohio's coaches decide to switch Hinton to cornerback. The Bobcats had better depth at the safety position, whereas they were thin at the cornerback position, so they decided that Hinton's talents would be better used as a defensive back. I always thought it was a shame that Ohio's coaches didn't leave him at safety, because I would've loved to have seen what he could do there in a game setting. He ended up playing for six games for the Bobcats in 2006, before being "dismissed for an unspecified team rules violation." It was never made public, but Hinton ended up at Minnesota State Mankato(pronounced MAN-KAY-TOE), a Division II program located in Mankato, Minnesota. There were some issues with his transfer papers, so Hinton only got to play six games for the Mavericks, but in those six games he posted some very impressive numbers. In seven games at free safety, he racked up 42 tackles, five passes defended, 1.5 tackles for loss, and three interceptions. Two of those interceptions came in one game, one of which he returned for a touchdown. He returned one punt for 17 yards and he even returned three kicks for 54 yards, an average of 18 yards per clip. His numbers were impressive enough to land him a spot in the prestigious Texas versus The Nation All-Star Game. There he tallied three tackles and one tackle for loss for The Nation. It was in a losing effort as Nation lost to Texas 41-14, but plenty of NFL scouts paid attention to Hinton throughout the week. Even after he left Ohio University, Ohio's director of football operations Jason Grooms said that NFL scouts were still buzzing about Mike Hinton and asking about him. Plenty of NFL teams have expressed interest in the Burlington, N.C. native, including the Houston Texans, Cleveland Browns, San Francisco 49ers, Minnesota Vikings, and the Carolina Panthers. I'm well aware that Mike Hinton hasn't blazed the most conventional path to the draft. That's what life is all about, ladies and gentlemen. Overcoming obstacles and constantly striving to be a better person. Hinton is very willing to admit that he's made mistakes in his life, but we all have. I know I certainly have. When I sit down and speak with Mike Hinton about the game of football and just life in general, I can sense he's a good person and that he's changed for the better. I really enjoy hearing his knowledge of former players that he has played with throughout his career. I'm willing to vouch for Mike as a person and say that he has excellent character. He has had his issues in the past, but we all make mistakes. Mike will be anxiously awaiting on draft day this weekend to see if his name gets called. If he does, it will likely be in the 7^th round, but he will definitely get picked up as a free agent. This kid is simply too good of a prospect to pass up. That's why he's one of my favorite sleeper prospects for the 2008 NFL Draft. He's been through a lot and he's dealt with a lot of adversity, which will only make him work harder to achieve his goal of playing in the NFL. He has the talent, work ethic, and character to make that possible. Now all he needs is somebody in an NFL organization to believe in him too. Once he gets in a camp somewhere and straps on the pads, Hinton will do what he's done on every level of football when he's been put in his natural position(free safety). He will do great things for an NFL team and it will truly make me smile to see his dreams realized. Set as favorite Bookmark Email This Trackback(0) TrackBack URI for this entry Comments (0) Subscribe to this comment's feed Write comment Name Email Website Title Comment smaller \| bigger Subscribe via email (Registered users only) I have read and agree to the Terms of Usage.
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