FOXBORO, Mass. (AP) – Bobby Hamilton has been overlooked his entire career.

No team drafted him in 1994. Bill Parcells didn’t think he was good enough to start for the New York Jets. And now that he’s a mainstay of the New England Patriots defensive line, he doesn’t get much publicity.

That’s what happens when you work hard, make plays and don’t care who gets credit.

“I don’t get caught up in who gets all the recognition,” Hamilton said Wednesday. “I just want to help my team to win and just try to get to the playoffs.”

His next chance to do that comes Sunday night against the Dallas Cowboys, the team Parcells coaches now.

He didn’t blame Parcells for not using him more, or complain about not being drafted.

But that rejection provided motivation.

“I go out there every day with a chip on my shoulder,” Hamilton said. “I just go out there and approach the game like it’s my last one and keep showing everybody that I can play in this league.”

That’s been obvious since he joined the Patriots for the 2000 season after playing for the Jets and Parcells the previous three years.

Hamilton has started 55 of the 57 games he’s played for the Patriots, including all nine at defensive end this year. He’s the second leading tackler among the team’s linemen and is part of the NFL’s seventh-best run defense and the top team in the AFC East with a 7-2 record.

“He’s had the opportunity,” said Patriots defensive end Anthony Pleasant, who played with Hamilton with the Jets. “He got labeled a certain way, but the guy can play ball.”

Hamilton, 32, still doesn’t get as much attention as other Patriots defensive linemen – young star Richard Seymour or rookie first-round pick Ty Warren. There’s even been a greater focus on injured players Ted Washington, who has played just three games at nose tackle, and Ted Johnson, who has played in one at linebacker, and when they will return.

It could be Sunday night.

Both practiced Wednesday and are listed as questionable on the injury report, rather than out, for the first time since they were hurt.

“It is good to see then back out there,” coach Bill Belichick said. “How much they will be able to do in practice, how much they will be able to do in the game, how effective they will be, that is a whole other question.”

There’s no question that Hamilton will play.

In 1996, the year before Parcells took over the Jets, Hamilton started 11 of the 15 games in which he played. But over the next three years, he made just one start in 39 games.

“You had some good players” in New York, Hamilton said. “You had Rick Lyle, A.P. (Pleasant) there and I was just waiting for my opportunity.

“I can’t complain about what happened with the Jets. That’s over with. I’m here with the New England Patriots.”

After the 1999 season, Hamilton joined the Patriots, where Belichick had taken over after serving as Parcells’ defensive coordinator with the Jets. Suddenly, his playing time soared and his 79 tackles in 2000 led all NFL defensive linemen.

Lyle, who started all 48 games with the Jets under Parcells, is now a backup with the Patriots. So is Pleasant, who started 31 of his 32 games with the Jets in 1998 and 1999.

Hamilton went undrafted out of Southern Mississippi and signed with Seattle in 1994. He spent that season on injured reserve, was out of football in 1995 after the Seahawks cut him and played for Amsterdam in the World League in the spring of 1996.

He started the 1996 NFL season on the Jets’ practice squad but was activated for the opener when defensive tackle Erik Howard was put on injured reserve. Hamilton had two tackles in his debut, then endured three seasons in the shadows.

Until he joined the Patriots.

“I had to look inside myself and get focused now that I had another chance to show everybody that I can play,” Hamilton said. “If you’re in the NFL, you want to play, and all I did is kept working hard.

“I’m not done yet. I’m still here and I’m still battling.”

AP-ES-11-12-03 1803EST