Voters pick Hammond as McAlester fan favorite on defensive line

Jun. 24—Voters selected Andrew Hammond as the best player on the defensive line in McAlester history.

Hammond was a 1970 graduate of McAlester and made a large impact for the football team in his time as a Buff.

Due to his efforts on the gridiron, Hammond received a scholarship to continue his football paying career at the University of Tulsa. While there, he helped to see the Golden Hurricanes finish atop the Missouri Valley Conference his senior season before graduating from Tulsa in 1974.

After college, Hammond stayed in football, starting as a senior assistant coach for the Hurricanes. He later continued his coaching alongside a career into high school education before transitioning into sales in the 1990s.

Hammond received 42% of votes from McAlester fans, followed by Riley Smith with 25% of the vote, Blake Hackler with 16%, and Erik McCarty, Sr. with 11%.

Fans voted as part of the McAlester News-Capital's ongoing effort to name the 2021 All-Time McAlester Football Team. The newspaper will select the all-time team based on research, stats, and more.

Anyone will have an opportunity to vote throughout the coming weeks on the members of a separate All-Time McAlester Fan Vote Team. The defensive line poll marks the sixth position put up to a vote from fans. Polls run on Sundays and Wednesdays, opening at noon and closing at noon the following day.

Polls will include various positions throughout the month of June, with multiple names offered as suggestions. If a fan doesn't see a name they think should be mentioned, they can vote for that person by selecting other and writing an online comment or emailing dhatridge@mcalesternews.com.

UP NEXT

Here is the full schedule of fan-vote polls for each position:

6/6 — Receiver (Lawson Giddings)

6/9 — Special teams (Taeam Kang)

6/13 — Defensive back (Kent Davis)

6/16 — Running back (Ryan Owens)

6/20 — Linebacker (Richard Carney)

6/23 — Defensive line (Andrew Hammond)

6/27 — Offensive line

6/30 — Quarterback

Contact Derek Hatridge at dhatridge@mcalesternews.com.