Former Highlands star Brett Hamblen, stretching to catch a pass against Elder in 2000, faces trial for arson in a UK dorm fire. (Jeff Swinger photo) | ZOOM |

        FORT THOMAS — Brett Hamblen helped lead Highlands High School to three state football championships in a row. Now the 19-year-old is a criminal suspect, indicted Tuesday on charges of third-degree arson and second-degree wanton endangerment.

        Police say he set a fire Dec. 11 in his dormitory at the University of Kentucky. He has been suspended from the football team and has withdrawn from school.

        When Mr. Hamblen played for Highlands, he was one of the “Fab Four” — a quartet of players who made the all-state team in 2000. People lavished attention on his football skills, even as he got into trouble off the field.

        Some in Fort Thomas now wonder whether the community's priorities were misplaced.

        “I wish there would have been a way for us to show him he was more important to us than making his next touchdown,” says Cindy Jones, a parent and former school board chairwoman.

        The community needs to ask itself some questions, she says: “Did we mess up? Maybe we did. Because he was good for us. And were we good for him? I'm not so sure.”

Hamblen

        Mr. Hamblen could not be reached for comment. His lawyer and parents would not comment for this story.

        Athletes are superstars in Fort Thomas, a leafy suburb of Northern Kentucky with a median income of $52,000, compared to Cincinnati's $28,000.

        Over the past 42 years, the Highlands Bluebirds have won a record 15 state football championships.

        Before heading to state games, the team stops at local elementary schools to sign autographs. At the 2000 championship in Louisville, fans in the bleachers included 5-year-old Colin Dean.

        “Go 'Birds,” Colin told an Enquirer reporter at the time. “Brett Hamblen, he's the man.”

        Mr. Hamblen indeed was among the best, making a state-record 27 touchdown receptions his senior year. He also played as a defensive back and kick returner.

        But off the field and especially between seasons, he sometimes made mistakes.

        Twice, he was suspended from school — once for fighting, once for trying with another football player to change a grade in a teacher's book.

        Criminal charges against juveniles are confidential. But court records indicate that after they turned 18, Mr. Hamblen and several Highlands teammates were cited for alcohol-related offenses.

        During a 2001 spring break trip to Panama City, Fla., Mr. Hamblen was charged with alcohol possession by a minor, according to the Bay County Clerk's Office. The charges were dropped after a judge had him pick up trash for a day.

        Highlands football player Josh Adams, a friend of Mr. Hamblen, was arrested for drunken driving in Northern Kentucky 17 days after playing in the 2000 Kentucky state football championship, court records show. He pleaded guilty to operating a motor vehicle under the influence and was fined $250.

        A third Highlands player, Ben Scott, was charged along with Mr. Hamblen on April 21 with alcohol possession at a teen party in Fort Thomas. Again, the charges were dropped after the two completed tasks assigned by a judge.

        Eight months later, Mr. Hamblen and Mr. Scott got into their biggest jam yet — again with alcohol as a factor.

        On Dec. 11 at about 3:30 a.m., fire was spotted in a second-floor hallway of Kirwan I, the UK dormitory where both football players lived. No one was hurt, and the fire was quickly extinguished by a resident-hall adviser.

        Mr. Hamblen, Mr. Scott and another UK player quickly emerged as suspects. A witness saw them lighting “a large ball of paper towels on fire” shortly before the blaze, police records show.

        “The witness further advised that the suspects were intoxicated at the time of the incident,” the police report says.

        The arson charges against Mr. Scott and the third man were eventually dropped. But on Tuesday, Mr. Hamblen was indicted by a Fayette County grand jury on charges of arson, a felony, and endangerment, a misdemeanor, Assistant Commonwealth's Attorney Mike Malone said.

        He faces a maximum penalty of five years in jail.
       

Status brings scrutiny

        Most Highlands football players do not get in trouble. One was last year's valedictorian, and some have gone on to top universities such as Purdue and Harvard.

        Those who do make mistakes are put under the microscope because of their football status — a scrutiny some think is unfair.

        “I don't think these individuals were out running rampant, getting in trouble all the time,” says Mark Dill, a Fort Thomas police lieutenant who also volunteers as a football coach.

        “They're decent kids who've had some scrapes.”

        One of Mr. Hamblen's staunchest supporters is head coach Dale Mueller, a trim, energetic man sometimes known as “Smiley.”

        “I coached Brett for four years, and I always liked him,” Mr. Mueller says. “The team always meant so much to him.”

        He's aware of some of Mr. Hamblen's high-school problems, such as the fight his sophomore year that led to a suspension. But such incidents were few and did not occur during the football season, so Mr. Hamblen was never docked any playing time, the coach says.

        “If you win football games, then people have to say the only thing you're interested in is winning football games,” Mr. Mueller says. “That's not the case.”

        Extracurricular activities are good for young people, he says, so he wants them to stay involved. He finds reasons to like every player, and he tries to steer them away from temptations such as drugs and alcohol, he says.

        Mr. Hamblen “was definitely more important to me than his next touchdown,” Mr. Mueller says.
       

Discipline difficult

        But it's not always easy for Mr. Mueller or other school officials to crack down on off-campus misbehavior. A controversial episode during the 2000 football season illustrates the problem.

        On Sept. 23, 2000, as many as 50 Fort Thomas teen-agers gathered at the home of a Highlands student. Her parents, Michael and Peggy Maggio, were not present and did not authorize the party, which involved “heavy drinking,” the Campbell County police say.

        About a week later, the Maggios realized that about $14,000 in jewelry was missing, included two Rolex watches and a necklace. Rumors were widespread that football players were involved, but police could never say for sure.

        Campbell County police did, however, charge one player with the theft of a calculator from the house that night. The player was a juvenile, so his records are confidential.

        “No one would give names,” Campbell County Police Detective B.J. Champagne says. “This sporting group, if that's what you want to call them, must be all very close friends.”

        The stolen-jewelry episode divided Fort Thomas. Some said rumors shouldn't be used to ruin football players' seasons. Others worried about the message sent by doing nothing.

        “There has to be more of a hard line of consequences for actions,” says Teri Morris, a Highlands parent and former school board member. “You learn from consequences. You don't learn from being coddled.”

        Coach Mueller says he did all he could. After hearing about the theft, he confronted his players. All denied any involvement, and without evidence, he had no grounds to suspend anyone from the team.

        The Bluebirds went on to win the state championship.

No drinking in season

        Highlands players have a tradition of not drinking alcohol during the season, team members and coaches say. But for some, post-season drinking is another story.

        The evidence of a pattern of drinking doesn't surprise people like Ms. Jones, the former school board chairwoman.

        In 1998, she and other parents pushed for a tougher response to teen-age substance abuse in Fort Thomas. The opposition to their proposal said something about prevailing attitudes, they say.

        “These parents, they accept so much of the behavior as boys just being boys,” says Ms. Morris.

        The board had proposed to ban student athletes from drinking year-round, not just during their sports seasons. Students caught in violation would have to get treatment and forfeit 10 percent of their current or upcoming seasons.

        The policy is similar to one in place at Anderson, Turpin, Kings, Glen Este, New Miami and the Lakota high schools in Ohio.

        It didn't go over well in Fort Thomas. At a crowded school board meeting, some spoke in favor of the proposal, but many more parents were opposed. They felt that the board, by extending the rules year-round, was meddling in parental discipline and even creating the atmosphere for a witch hunt against athletes.

        “It just baffled me,” says Superintendent Larry Stinson, who supported the tougher rules. “What (parents) were basically saying is, "We don't have confidence our children will behave appropriately, so we don't want them punished.'”

        “The board was saying, "But (underage drinking) is against the law.'”

        The policy eventually passed, but it's unclear whether it has had much impact. Enforcement is difficult without evidence, and police are not allowed to share information on citations for underage drinking, school officials say.
       

Coach backed policy

        Coach Mueller supported the tougher rules. Teen drinking, he says, is a problem he's in the fight to stop.

        He never had any evidence of substance abuse by Mr. Hamblen or Mr. Scott, he says. But on the one occasion when two other players admitted to drinking during a season, he put them through grueling workouts that had them throwing up and their parents complaining about child abuse, he says. They also were suspended for several games.

        Despite such efforts, Mr. Mueller feels he “hasn't done a great job” changing behavior.

        “There is still a lot of teen-age drinking going on in Fort Thomas, but I really don't know how to stop it,” he says.

        As for Mr. Hamblen, the coach is confident his former star will find his way. He emphasizes that Mr. Hamblen has merely been charged, not convicted, of the fire at UK.

        Would he change anything about his interaction with the young man? Not really.

        “I don't know, if we got the five most experienced psychologists in the world, that we could say what was the best thing to do,” the coach says.

        “I still believe in Brett Hamblen. I still think Brett is a quality guy and will go on to be a quality guy.”

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