BOBCATS 125: Wayne Hammond
6/27/2022 4:47:00 PM | Football
A standout defensive tackle who helped lead some outstanding Bobcat defenses in the early 1970s
Leading to the 2022 season, the 125th anniversary of Montana State's first football team, we will look at 125 of the greatest Bobcats. You can find details here and a directory here.
Wayne Hammond, DT, 1972-74
ALL-TIME TEAM: None previously
HONORS: 1st Team All-Big Sky in 1974, Honorable Mention All-Big Sky in 1973
A CLOSER LOOK: Like so many of his classmates, Bobcat defensive tackle Wayne Hammond played as a freshman in Sonny Holland's first season, 1971, but his development in the spring and fall of 1972 proved important as the Bobcats successfully chased that season's Big Sky title. His excellent sophomore season led to the prognostication before the 1973 campaign that he could become one of the program's best defensive tackles ever - he lined up next to Bill Kollar, the man who undoubtedly wears that crown - by building on his reputation as a run-stopping wall by improving his pass rush effectiveness. Hammond earned Honorable Mention All-Big Sky honors in 1973 before reeling in first team kudos as a senior.
FROM TEAMMATE JOE JOHNSON: "Wayno, for the time, was a very large football player. He was probably the biggest kid on our team, probably bigger than Bill Kollar. He had the advantage of playing next to Bill and I think anybody on that team, Brad (Daws) or Wayne or Ron Ueland or Dusty (Birkenbuel), that Kollar made it a lot easier to play on that side of the ball. Wayne was hard to block. In practice I had to block him and he was so big and strong, he was difficult to block."
Wayne Hammond, DT, 1972-74
ALL-TIME TEAM: None previously
HONORS: 1st Team All-Big Sky in 1974, Honorable Mention All-Big Sky in 1973
A CLOSER LOOK: Like so many of his classmates, Bobcat defensive tackle Wayne Hammond played as a freshman in Sonny Holland's first season, 1971, but his development in the spring and fall of 1972 proved important as the Bobcats successfully chased that season's Big Sky title. His excellent sophomore season led to the prognostication before the 1973 campaign that he could become one of the program's best defensive tackles ever - he lined up next to Bill Kollar, the man who undoubtedly wears that crown - by building on his reputation as a run-stopping wall by improving his pass rush effectiveness. Hammond earned Honorable Mention All-Big Sky honors in 1973 before reeling in first team kudos as a senior.
FROM TEAMMATE JOE JOHNSON: "Wayno, for the time, was a very large football player. He was probably the biggest kid on our team, probably bigger than Bill Kollar. He had the advantage of playing next to Bill and I think anybody on that team, Brad (Daws) or Wayne or Ron Ueland or Dusty (Birkenbuel), that Kollar made it a lot easier to play on that side of the ball. Wayne was hard to block. In practice I had to block him and he was so big and strong, he was difficult to block."
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