Former Tigers sign football contracts

November 13, 2007
SAVANNAH, Ga- Former Savannah State running backs Chad Cone and Troy Hambrick recently signed Arena Football League free agent contracts to continue their football careers.

Cone was one of 13 players to sign with the Georgia Force while Hambrick was one of nine players that inked a deal with the Utah Blaze.

Cone (6-3, 235) played for three seasons at SSU after transferring from paine College. As a senior in 2006, Cone led the team in rushing with 450 yards and two touchdowns. He was second in receiving with 16 receptions for 145 yards and one touchdown. Cone recorded 282 rushing attempts for 1,388 yards with eight touchdowns on the ground and added 36 grabs for 516 yards with two touchdowns as a receiver in 27 career games. Cone holds the school record for longest run from scrimmage, 81 yards. He is a native of Waycross (GA) and attended Ware County High School, where he was named first team All-Region in basketball and competed in the State Championships in track. Cone will be used as a running back

Hambrick (6-1, 245) is the last Savannah State football player to rush for 1,000 yards in a single season. After transferring from South Carolina in 1999, Hambrick ran for 1,261 yards and scored 18 touchdowns. He currently holds single-game records at SSU in most net yards rushing (181), and most rushing touchdowns (4). Hambrick spent four seasons in the NFLplaying with the Arizona Cardinals and Dallas Cowboys. In 2004, while with the Cardinals, he rushed 63 times in ten games for 283 yards and one touchdown. From 2000-03, Hambrick played for the Cowboys . In his 51 games as a Cowboy, Hambrick recorded 473 carries for 1,896 yards and eight touchdowns. His most successful NFL season came in 2003 where he rushed for a career-high 972 yards.

Other former Tiger football players who played professionally were Bobby Curtis (New York Jets and Washington Redskins), Shannon Sharpe (Denver Broncos and Baltimore Ravens) and Lemuel Ligdon (Rhein Fire) who played in NFL Europe. Both Curtis and Sharpe have won NFL Super Bowls rings. Other notable SSU football players are Andrew Mitchell who played with the Arizona Rattlers of the Arena Football League along with Jonathan Johnson and Patrick Jackson who played with Rock River Raptors of United Football League.