FAYETTEVILLE — Receivers coach Michael Smith suggested Keon Hatcher cut his hair after two Louisiana Tech defensive backs tried to tackle Arkansas’ senior receiver by his dreadlocks in the opener.
Hatcher didn’t heed his position coach’s suggestion. After all, the dreads have been a staple of his look since before he arrived in Fayetteville. He’d even dealt with a hair tackle before, against UTEP in 2015. Still, he’s understandably not a fan of defenders grabbing at the dreads to try and bring him down.
“Girlish, pulling another man’s hair,” Hatcher said.
Hatcher did something about it last week at No. 15 TCU, getting the dreadlocks taped by trainers before the game — not once, but twice. Removing the tape after the game wasn’t an issue.
“Just unravel it,” Hatcher said.
Even if it had hurt to take the tape off, Hatcher probably wouldn’t have noticed in the wake of the Hogs’ 41-38 double-overtime win, a victory he played a major role in. He finished with a modest stat line — two catches for 22 yards — but made a pair of back-to-back plays at the end of the fourth quarter to help the Hogs complete an improbable comeback after it looked like they’d blown the game.
First, he dropped a defender with a quick move to get open and haul in a 16-yard touchdown pass from Austin Allen to pull the Razorbacks within 28-26 with 63 seconds remaining. Then the roles reversed, with Hatcher finding Allen in the corner of the end zone for the tying two-point conversion on a double reverse.
Needless to say, the dreads — and occasionally the tape — are here to stay.