Baltimore Ravens safety Kyle Hamilton seeks money, not fame. In his own words, he would be just fine in being less famous than he currently is now.
From being a 5-star recruit in high school to earning All-American honors in college to becoming an All-Pro in just his second professional season, Hamilton has drawn positive attention at every stage of his football career.
“Obviously, I’m super grateful for it [and] everything that has come with it,” the Notre Dame product told reporters on Tuesday.
“I’ve always said I want to be rich, I don’t want to be famous, so I think I’m cool where I’m at on the level of fame – maybe it could get even lower. But it’s super exciting to just have the opportunities as well and be a part of this.”
The 14th overall pick in the 2022 NFL Draft is living up to expectations; and then some.
A recent survey of league executives, coaches and scouts, conducted by ESPN, ranked him the second best safety in the league, behind only Antoine Winfield of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Meanwhile Pro Football Focus ranked Hamilton the 26th best overall player in the NFL. The more Hamilton makes plays and dominates games, the more honors he’ll win.
And with it, more publicity will come his way.
“I think it’s kind of funny to see, I guess for lack of a better word, the notoriety that I’ve gotten just from playing well,” Hamilton continued.
“It kind of almost feels expected – like this was supposed to happen,” Hamilton said.
“In my household – my mom and my dad and everybody was like, ‘Yes, you’re supposed to get better [in] Year 2 and do well and get accolades.’ That’s just kind of what the norm was.”
If his career stays on this positive trajectory, and he gets even better in year three, then he could really end up having a season for the ages.