Last spring was a rough one for Darius Hamilton. While many of the guys he started his college career at Rutgers with prepared for their Pro Days immediately following their senior seasons, the defensive tackle was sidelined with injuries to both his knees and shoulder, each of which required surgery.

For the first time in his life, the former five-star recruit was sitting on the sidelines. He was on the outside of the football field, where he so often shined, looking in.

“It sucked,” Hamilton said of the stretch. “I don’t think there’s any other words to describe it. Very frustrating, definitely a new experience for me but I’ve grown, especially in my faith, ever since this process started. I do believe God has a plan for us all. That’s why people have such great support systems, and speaking for myself alone, I’m surrounded by great people who give me nothing but positivity. I’ve been able to get to work every day and get better every day because of that.”

Hamilton kept on believing, slowly returning to the grind he grew to love as he recovered from surgery. He put in the work necessary to get to Rutgers’ 2018 Pro Day, where he would get the shot to experience what he missed the first time around.

Through plenty of hard work and sacrifice, with many bumps along the way, the goal came to fruition when he stepped into the Atlantic Health Training Center in Florham Park last Friday.

It was there, at the New York Jets training facility, that Hamilton performed in front of a dozen scouts with many of his former teammates.

“It meant a lot to just be able to get back out there in that atmosphere with some of the guys I played with these last couple of years,” Hamilton said. “It was an uphill climb, ended up having three surgeries, missing pro day last year, just to see that go full circle means a lot.”

Hamilton admitted that his pro day numbers don’t pop off the page. He acknowledged that he’s not a standout in combine-style drills, preferring his game film to speak for itself.

All things considered, his performance went as well as he hoped. Despite just getting cleared to bench in mid-January, Hamilton put up 23 reps of 225 pounds on the bench press, the second-highest total of the day behind only fellow defensive tackle Sebastian Joseph.

He also set a personal record in a number of drills.

“I think I did pretty well,” Hamilton said. “I’ve never been a guy at any stage of my life that was going to blow you away with numbers. I’ve always hung my hat on the way I play football, as a player. That’s something I take a great deal of pride in. This last stretch of getting for pro day has been frustrating because like I said, I’ve always been someone who hung my hat on the way I play football. To see my future all come down to tests I’ve never been very good at, it was different for me. … (but overall), I’m very happy with some of my numbers.”

Hamilton spoke to a couple of NFL scouts after the event. The message was the same across the board — they were happy to see him back in action.

For Hamilton, regardless of the results, being back on the field was the highlight of the day.

“Pretty much, all I really wanted to do for pro day was go out there and prove I was healthy enough to still play,” he said. “I know there are a lot of questions surrounding my health and my goal was to show people I’m healthy and I’m ready to offer help to whoever wants me, whoever takes a chance on me. I think I did go out there and show I can still move around, that I’m quicker than I am fast and that I have a lot of football still to play.”