Ray Hamilton

Ray "Sugar Bear" Hamilton was born in Omaha, Nebraska, and played at Douglass High School in Oklahoma City. He was first-team All-Big Eight at Oklahoma in 1971 (Wikipedia's text adds 1972). New England drafted him in the 14th round, 342nd overall, in 1973. He played defensive tackle for the Patriots through 1981, starting 117 of 132 games, and is on their All-1970s Team. He is best known for a 1976 playoff play at Oakland: he was flagged for roughing the passer after tipping a Ken Stabler pass, which kept the Raiders' winning drive alive. He later coached defensive lines for about nine NFL teams, including the Patriots in Super Bowl XX, the Jets, the Browns, the Jaguars and the Falcons. The Daily Oklahoman wrote on February 1, 1973 (NewsBank page 49): "Two long days of waiting finally ended late Wednesday for Oklahoma defensive lineman Raymond Hamilton." The same article says: "The former Douglass standout was drafted by the New England Patriots in the 14th round and that's a lot later than Hamilton expected to be picked." The same article says: "Hamilton was all-Big Eight as a junior."