Hampton, a native New Yorker who retired to Jacksonville, FL, has been described as "an all-time great Jet." During his almost four decades in the Jets equipment room at their then base of operations at Hofstra University in Hempstead, NY, he became one of the handful of people who were always on the Green & White scene, linking one year and one era of Jets football to another.
"Hamp was a very special person. When you came into the Jets organization, he took time to get to know you and to bring you into his family," recalled Marty Lyons, the radio voice of the Jets who spent many hours in Hampton's equipment room as a Jets player from 1977-89.