Paris Ford and Damar Hamlin were brought together not by Pop Warner football or 7-on-7 camps, but by tragedy.
In July 2012 — when Ford and Hamlin were in seventh and eighth grade, respectively — a mutual friend, 19-year-old Javon Riley, was shot and killed in McKees Rocks. Hamlin, a McKees Rocks kid, and Ford, a Garfield native, knew of each other at the time; word traveled fast of the grade-school standouts. But the two first met at Riley’s funeral.
“Ever since then, our relationship, I mean, we’ve basically been best friends,” Hamlin said. “Our relationship is really bigger than just football.”
Oddly enough, Hamlin used the same words — “bigger than just football” — in an interview with the Post-Gazette four years ago, when he was a highly touted WPIAL recruit with offers from Clemson, Notre Dame, Ohio State and more. At the time, he talked about him and Ford being a “package deal.”
And on Saturday against Virginia, the tandem will live out a dream: starting alongside each other in their hometown, for their hometown program.
“I feel like a lot of people around the city have been talking about it a lot, and it’s finally here,” Ford said. “We always talked about it. Now, it’s just time to live it.”
Hamlin and Ford are Pitt’s first-team safeties and, in a lot of ways, could prove to be the backbone of the Panthers’ defense. Hamlin, a senior from Central Catholic, led Pitt with 90 tackles in 2018. Ford, a redshirt sophomore from Steel Valley, is a play-making presence with high expectations.
The Pitt secondary is deep aside from the duo. The Panthers’ back-end might be the team’s strongest unit with corners Dane Jackson, Jason Pinnock and Damarri Mathis returning and redshirt senior safety Jazzee Stocker serving as a primary backup. But Pitt’s defense, as it overcomes the loss of defensive end Rashad Weaver and works through a rotation of linebackers, will lean on the communication between Hamlin and Ford.
That shouldn’t be a problem.
Not only have the two been friends for seven years, but they also spent a year together at Central Catholic before Ford transferred to Seton LaSalle (and later Steel Valley). Hamlin and Ford never took the field side-by-side for Terry Totten’s Vikings; Ford wasn’t on varsity as a freshman. But Totten recalled the two hanging out around campus, Hamlin often offering his friend advice.
That relationship grew closer after Ford’s freshman year. He was moving on to Seton LaSalle but still joined Hamlin, Therran Coleman and Bricen Garner for offseason workouts.
DeWayne Brown, an area trainer who runs 2/10’s Speed & Agility, worked with Hamlin since he was 9 years old. When he brought Ford into the fold, he witnessed the two naturally feed off each other in 7-on-7s. He saw a “real” bond.
“They can read each other’s body language so well,” Brown said. “It’s like when you play basketball and practice so much, you know where people are going to be at on the court.”
Hamlin and Ford hope it’s that smooth against the Cavaliers.
Ford has never started a collegiate game — and he’s never played safety in one, either. The No. 5 cornerback in the 2017 recruiting class, according to Rivals, transitioned to safety prior to spring ball. Ford got 15 practices under his belt then and added four more weeks in August.
Ford said on Aug. 2, before fall camp started, that he felt ready to go thanks to Hamlin and Stocker’s guidance. But Pitt coach Pat Narduzzi (slightly) tempered expectations.
“I don’t expect Paris or Damar to be perfect on Saturday,” Narduzzi said Thursday. “There are going to be ups and downs as we go. But it’s going to be fun. Those guys have been wanting to play together for years. I’m happy we’re finally there.”
It’s been a long journey for Narduzzi to get to this point, too. He signed the duo — Hamlin in 2016, Ford a year later.
Oddly enough, Ford committed before the older Hamlin. Ford, still at Seton LaSalle, verbally pledged to Pitt as a junior in October 2015. Four months later, Hamlin — after winning a PIAA Class AAAA title as a senior at Central Catholic — signed his letter of intent.
Hype around the friends one day leading Pitt started to build. But Narduzzi and the Panthers still had to secure the signature of Ford, who couldn’t technically join the program until February 2017.
In that time, Ford continued to ball out. He scored 22 touchdowns, with six interceptions returned to the house, for Steel Valley as Rod Steele’s team went 15-0 and captured the program’s first PIAA crown. And, as expected, interest poured in for the Pitt commit.
“His senior year, he had the likes of Alabama, Clemson, Michigan, Miami, all those schools coming in and trying to flip him,” Steele said. “But Paris was loyal to his commitment. He said he wasn’t just committing to Pitt. He was committing to the city of Pittsburgh.” And, in truth, Ford was committing to play with his best friend.
When Pitt opens its ACC Coastal slate at Heinz Field, all eyes will be on quarterback Kenny Pickett and Mark Whipple’s offense. Panther fans will watch a new offensive line with nerves and Weaver’s replacement, Deslin Alexandre, with curiosity. But those in the yellow seats and those taking in the game from home on the ACC Network (those who get it, at least) ought to keep an eye on Hamlin and Ford.
NFL prospects aside — Totten, Hamlin’s Central Catholic coach, recently filled out scouting forms for the Oakland Raiders and Cleveland Browns, while Brown said Ford has “a gift” for tracking the ball down — Saturday provides a unique opportunity for viewers. They’re given the chance to watch two Pittsburgh kids fulfill a fantasy.
“It’s going to be sky high,” Hamlin said, when asked what it’ll feel like to see Ford start opposite him against the Cavaliers. “It’s going to be a dream come true.”
John McGonigal: jmcgonigal@post-gazette.com and Twitter @jmcgonigal9
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First Published: August 30, 2019, 5:36 p.m.