Nicholas Hampton (born April 5, 2000) is an American professional football linebacker for the Carolina Panthers of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Appalachian State Mountaineers, and began his professional career playing three seasons (2023-2025) with the Los Angeles Rams, who drafted him in the fifth round of the 2023 NFL draft.
Hampton grew up in Anderson, South Carolina and attended Westside High School. He had 63 tackles, 16 for loss, and seven sacks in his junior season. Hampton committed to play college football at Appalachian State.
Hampton played in three games as a true freshman while maintaining a redshirt on the season. He made 42 tackles with three sacks during his redshirt freshman season. As a redshirt junior, Hampton was named third team All-Sun Belt Conference after finishing the season with 69 tackles, 17.5 tackles for loss, and 11 sacks.
Hampton was selected by the Los Angeles Rams with the 161st pick in the fifth round of the 2023 NFL draft. As a rookie, he appeared in 10 games and contributed four total tackles with one pass deflection. In 2024, Hampton appeared in 14 games and had three total tackles and a pass defense, but did not appear in any playof games for Los Angeles.
In his third season with the Rams, played in 12 games and had 10 total tackles. On December 9, 2025, Hampton was waived by the Rams and re-signed to the practice squad. On January 13, 2026, he was signed to the active roster for the postseason. Hampton appeared in all three of the Rams' playoff games, totaling three tackles (one solo, two assists) for the 2025 season.
On March 20, 2026, Hampton signed with the Carolina Panthers.