A FORMER NFL player Rob Hart, who now lives in Edington, is to be added to his university’s hall of fame for his American football career achievements during 1996-2004.
Rob – who now runs an American Football team at Bratton School – first started playing American football for Great Britain in 1993 when he was 18. Whilst at Sheffield University, he wrote to 25 different American universities in the hope to be able to play in bigger leagues.
He was offered the chance to play at Murray State University in Kentucky as a walk-on, meaning that he was able to play without a scholarship.
His role was the team’s kicker, following the trend at the time to kick the ball barefoot.
Rob said, “I kicked a lot better without a shoe, it was more popular at that time, less so now!”
He first walked-on in the spring of 1995. Over two seasons, the barefoot kicker set records and helped the team to an Ohio Valley Conference championship, kicking the winning field goal in 1996. Rob was playing in front of TV audiences of over 100,000 people, filling stadiums.
He said, “It was my dream to play at college level in front of the huge audiences. In my second year at Murray State I was breaking records, scoring 25 field goals in a season and was named All American in 1996. I was part of their best ever team which then got me scouted for the NFL (National Football League).”
After graduating in 1997 with a degree in American History, also winning MSU history graduate of the year and OVC Scholar-Athlete of the year, Rob had a seven year career in the NFL Europe league playing for the London Monarchs (1998) and Scottish Claymores (1999-2004).
He was also scouted to play in the NFL, training with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2002, the Miami Dolphins in 2003 and the New Orleans Saints in 2004 but was released pre-season after narrowly missing out on the final rosters.
Rob was a part of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers when they won their first and only Super Bowl title in 2002. He played the Bucs’ first pre-season game against Miami Dolphins in front of 80,000 people.
Rob said, “It’s a funny story actually, I made the first kick of the game, and usually then I would run away and try not to get involved, but one man from the Dolphins broke loose and came straight at me. I then made the first tackle of the season – granted it was a pretty bad tackle!”
Rob finished his NFL Europe career as one of the league’s top kickers, being a two-time All-League member. During the 2004 season, he became the league’s all-time leading scorer with 333 points. He then moved to Wiltshire with his wife, who he met in Miami, and has lived here since, becoming a mortgage advisor for Impartial Financial Management.
Rob has now been recognised by Murray State University and will be entered into the college’s hall of fame.
Rob added, “It is a great honour and rather humbling to have got the news that I will be entered into the hall of fame at Murray State. I was only ever just one player doing his bit as part of one team – a small cog in a big wheel as they say.
“The ceremony will take place in November where voted-for players in all different teams at the university, who played for and represented Murray State, will be recognised.
“I got the call about a month ago telling me I will be awarded this honour and I couldn’t believe it. I thought it was a joke! What is great is that I can take my friends and family to where my dream started, and show them what my life was like before I met them and had children.
“The event will be a huge banquet with hundreds of people and then the awards will be presented at the half-time show of the university’s basketball game, in the stadium that holds 10,000 people. The team who will be playing are known nationally with future sports stars, so will be a prestigious event.”
Rob is now a school governor at Bratton Primary School and was approached by fellow governor Paul Curtis with an idea to start an American football after-school club for the children.
Rob said, “At first I wasn’t sure, I’d done my career and had moved away from it all. But Paul was so full of enthusiasm, so we started a team. Then the news of this award came and it couldn’t have come at a better time. It has reignited my passion for American football. We have 22 children that attend weekly for training and it’s great to see their own enthusiasm for the sport.
“Through my contacts, we have visits from Russ Hewitt who currently coaches at Solent Seahawks in Southampton and we are now an NFL UK registered team, with the hope to expand it as a permanent fixture. The school has been really accommodating. There are hardly any American football teams or training in Wiltshire, so to have the support behind us is great.”
