Hoya File Photo Throughout his career at Georgetown, Gharun Hester always carried himself with dignity and respect.
“If I could send one guy to represent the university it would be Gharun Hester,” Head Football Coach Bob Benson said of his star wide receiver. “Forget that he’s the best football player here and forget all of his success with basketball, he just a great guy. He’s wonderful to be around.”
Of course it is hard to forget about Hester’s single season receiving record of 1,073 yards or his career record of 3,089 receiving yards, the only Georgetown player to ever reach the 3,000-yard plateau. And it’s equally impossible to forget the three pointer he hit to end the triple overtime game in the 2000 National Invitation Tournament against the University of Virginia. Then again that just might be the best indicator of just how highly Benson thinks of his Hester as a human being.
“He is the epitome of an exceptional young man,” Benson said. “I hope my kids will grow up to be like Gharun – studious and respectful.”
Hester has left his mark athletically in his four years on the Hilltop, however what most do not know is how he carried himself as he shattered records and claimed glory in the world of Georgetown athletics.
Gharun Hester is the bain of a reporter’s existence. He never takes credit for his accomplishments. When he sheds two tacklers while leaping to catch a pass, he says “[sophomore quarterback] Dave Paulus put the ball where it needed to be.” When he breaks free for an 80-yard touchdown, he says “the offensive line did a great job giving Paulus time to throw.” No explanations of why he owns several of Georgetown’s all-time career receiving records. Not even an “I was feeling good today.” Hester pushes away his praise and spreads it to those around him.
Still, behind this gracious mask of humility lies an athlete of tremendous talent, and these talents are not overlooked by Benson – far from it.
“You can’t win without great players capable of big plays,” Benson said. “And Gharun is the ultimate big play player.”
Hester’s athletic prowess has not gone unnoticed by professional scouts either. While he was unselected in the NFL draft, Hester is presently a free agent and is looking to sign with a team to be brought into camp. Right now most NFL teams have brought in their draft picks and first round of free agent signees into camps to evaluate their talent. After these evaluations conclude, the teams usually bring in a second round of free agents ranked lower on their scouting reports. Should Hester succeed and make a team, he would be the first Georgetown football player to play in the NFL since defensive lineman Jim Ricca accomplished the feat 50 years ago in 1951.
Hester’s agent, Mike Sullivan, who also handles top-overall draft pick Michael Vick, has been in contact with Canadian and World Football League teams as well. Regardless of whether he makes an NFL, CFL or World League roster, Hester remains set on pursuing his dream of playing professional football.
“It’s what I want to do,” Hester said. “Your love of the sport is what makes you pursue it.”
Hester likened his present situation to that of his college recruiting, where again he was not highly touted.
“It worked out then and I’m sure it will work out now,” Hester said. “You can’t complain. Sure it’s discouraging but there are thousands of other guys out there in the same situation I’m in.”
Part of the reason for NFL teams’ hesitation to sign Hester could stem from his lack of experience at a high caliber level of competition.
Since its glory days in the mid-1900s the Georgetown football team has been mired in the relative mediocrity of Division I-AA football. That is until recently. In 1994 the team turned in a record of 5-4. That would start a string of six consecutive winning seasons for the Hoyas, at the height of which the team posted a record of 8-3 and participated in the ECAC bowl against Robert orris in 1997. In 1998 and 1999 Georgetown finished the season with a record of 9-2 and the team began to climb back into the upper ranks of Division I-AA football.
And next year Georgetown will continue its attempt to improve its football program’s national standing as the team will leave the ECAC for the more prestigious Patriot League.
“I don’t know if people understand what a huge move this is,” Benson said of the move to the Patriot League. The plan includes not only stiffer competition for the Hoyas, but also a new football stadium situated on the current location of Harbin Field.
“The school is trying to bring back school spirit on a Saturday afternoon in the middle of campus. There have been lots of people involved with this [upgrade], but Hester has been a big one.
“This whole transition would not be possible without a lot of things going right,” Benson said. “You have to win and you have to have a positive image of the program. Gharun makes that happen. This move doesn’t happen if we don’t win or are viewed in a negative light. Gharun represents both aspects in an impeccable manner.”
Coaches attribute huge strides in the program to his capabilities, fans marvel at his leaping catches, opponents curse his long reach and blazing speed, and through it all he remains humble, always thinking of others before himself.
When asked about he became interested in sports, Hester replied that he used to play with his friends trying to imitate the professional and college athletes they would see on television. But when he was asked how he felt that kids were out in the bleachers watching and trying to imitate him, he didn’t buy into it. “I don’t know if anybody really does that.”
“He’s just such a polite guy,” Benson said. “I don’t think he has any arrogance in his body and that goes back to his family.”
Even after Hester acknowledged the possibility that kids may idolize him, his response indicated a mode of thought uncommon among many of today’s star athletes.
“It’s flattering when kids want to be like you,” Hester said. “It lets you know that you’re on the right path and giving kids a good role model. It feels good and it keeps you on the right path. You want to make sure you do the right things.”
When asked what he felt to be his career highlights, he did not respond with his record-breaking catches, nor with his game-winning reception against Holy Cross at homecoming in 1998, a highlight Benson listed as nearly unparalleled in its positive impact on the program. Nor did he mention his 3-OT, three-pointer against UVA.
So what was Hester’s greatest highlight in his eyes?
“Just to play college sports,” Hester said. “A lot of the guys on my high school team never got that chance.”
But that opportunity has had its trade-offs. Playing on two varsity teams has limited Hester’s time both socially and academically. But this was a sacrifice Hester was willing to make.
“Sometimes you see kids with better grades than you, or a better social life, but you know that they admire the situation you’re in just as much as you admire their situation,” Hester said.
Instead Hester’s life has been focused on sports, drawn to the pressure, the adrenaline, the cheers, the triumphs and defeats of the athlete’s life.
“You love it, you respect it and eventually it becomes part of you,” Hester said.
And as could be expected by the gracious Hester, he also values the bonds formed through sports between teammates and coaches.
“[I’ve enjoyed] the camaraderie. Most of my friends have been on one team of mine or another,” Hester said. “And to me that’s valuable. To put it all on the line with somebody and achieve the same thing.”
But this weekend Hester’s collegiate experience comes to a close, and Georgetown will part with yet another tremendous athlete, saying goodbye to a true class act. “I can’t tell you how much I’ve enjoyed my experience with Gharun,” Benson said. “I can’t say enough about him being a great human being. We can all learn something from him.”
And when Hester, ever humble, will stride across the stage and accept his diploma he says his thoughts will not be of his athletic successes, or his possible future in professional football, but instead will be “looking out and seeing my mom and dad and knowing that I’m making them proud.”
And that is why Gharun Hester is the class of the class of 2001.
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