Retired NFL football player Hampton Speakes came to Springfield in 1989 with his good friend Billy Lewis following the wedding of Billy's brother, Josh, and ex-wife, Reva. Wanting a life outside of football, Hamp opened a nightclub with Billy called Heartbreaker's. Not only Billy's friend, Hamp was also an old friend of Reva's and knew that she gave up a baby after a teenaged affair with Billy. Not long after he arrived in town, Hamp began dating WSPR producer Gilly Grant. In 1991 the couple got engaged, to the displeasure of Hamp's daughter, Kat. Kat hated Gilly and wanted to break the couple up. When Kat and her best friend, Bridget Reardon, learned that Gilly had once worked for an escort service, Kat blackmailed Gilly. Not one to give in to blackmail, Gilly quickly told Hamp the entire story, complete with Kat's blackmail attempt. When an angry Kat ran off and ended up in a car accident, Hamp blamed Gilly and the engagement was called off. Soon, Kat began to regret what she'd done and helped the couple get back together. Hamp and Gilly were finally able to marry.

The marriage came under strain with the arrival of Gilly's ex-convict brother, David. Hamp took an immediate dislike to David and didn't want him anywhere near Kat. Hampton also started to grow tired of the long hours Gilly put in at WSPR and finally gave her an ultimatum: her career or him! Initially, choosing her career, she later regretted her decision and tried to quit. However, her boss, Roger Thorpe, wouldn't let her and blackmailed her by threatening to reveal that David had spent years in jail for murdering the man who ran the escort service where Gilly formerly worked. When David was arrested for killing Vinnie Morrison, he went on the run with Kat for fear of being convicted of murder. Convinced that David kidnapped Kat, Hamp had charges of kidnapping brought up against him. Finally, Gilly had no choice but to reveal the truth: her brother never killed anyone; it was she who killed her former employee, Mr. Davenport; David simply covered for her. Gilly was later shocked to learn that she wasn't the one who actually killed Davenport. At this time, Hamp tried to reconcile with Gilly, however she couldn't forgive him for the way he'd treated David and refused to go back to him. His marriage over and with Billy in jail for attempted murder, Hamp saw no reason to stay in town and left in 1995.