TEMPE, Ariz. — The Arizona State fullback who collides with opponents with so much force that he has busted his facemask four times remembers the first time it hit him. Case Hatch was not yet 15.

It was just a flash, that moment when something important clicks in a young person’s mind and the years of teaching and showing that person finally align as if to say, This is why. Throughout Hatch’s life, his family had been about service, about giving back. “It’s who we are, it’s what we do,” his parents told him. And like most his age, Hatch never had embraced the message.

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You know teenagers. Always inconvenienced. Always with more important things to do. And in fact, this day nearly 10 years ago had started no different. Hatch remembers it was a Saturday morning. Christmas was coming. He had been out working with family on some job, probably “picking up trash.” He was tired. He wanted to sleep. But as soon as they got home his Dad had said, “Let’s hop in the truck. We’re going to go help this family out.”

They drove to Walmart. They bought toys and wrapped them. Then the Hatch family drove to the family’s home. “Me and my brothers, we’re a little bitter about it,” Hatch said. “But the moment we brought these gifts to that family, the mom just started tearing up like crazy.” Hatch had done these generous deeds often but had seldom seen the impact. This time, here it was, right in front of him: a mother’s tears.

“That was really a defining moment in my life where, ‘OK, service is actually very important,'” Hatch said. “And I’m going to take any opportunity I can to go out and help someone.”

Arizona State recently nominated its fullback for the Allstate American Football Coaches Association Good Works Team, which honors those who help others. Hatch is deserving. Throughout his college years, and lately with his wife Sammy, he has helped prepare meals for Feed My Starving Children, picked up toiletries and other items for Neighbors Who Care and taught a Sunday school class at his Gilbert, Ariz., church.

Is it hard sometimes? Yes. Is Case busy with football and school? Absolutely.

“You fight that battle constantly of, man, I could do something more fun or something different right now instead of spending a couple hours cleaning out an animal shelter,” Case said. “(But) it’s more of just, commit to it and stick to that commitment. I remember at a young age my parents always dragging us to do it and I just saw the importance of doing service. And if someone’s doing it, why can’t it just be me and Sammy? Why can’t we make the difference?”

Yes, the fullback who has busted four facemasks is married. For college athletes, this is different but not uncommon. Former Arizona State defensive tackle D.J. Davidson, who was selected in the fifth round of April’s NFL Draft, got married in college. Around the Pac-12, Oregon State enters this season with five players who are married. USC has three. Oregon has one who is engaged.

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Case and Sammy Hatch tied the knot Jan. 28 in Gilbert. About half the Arizona State team attended the ceremony. Coach Herm Edwards excused Case for a few days, and the couple honeymooned in Cancun. Case is 24, Sammy is 25. They live in an apartment with a young American Bully named “Dozer,” as in bulldozer. Dozer is a handful. In a good way. Most of the time. When he’s not destroying everything.

“He’s so much fun but when you’re done playing, he’s not done,” said Sammy, a veterinarian technician.

Case and Sammy met a couple of years ago on a trip to Saguaro Lake. Case had a girlfriend at the time. Sammy had no idea who he was, but there was a maturity about him she couldn’t help but notice. While bringing in the family boat at the end of the day, a man pulled up with a trailer next to them, trying to get his own boat off the water. It was a tight fit, and the trailer swayed, coming close to hitting the Hatches’ boat. People yelled. Tempers flared. Sammy could see the man was extremely stressed.

And Case defused the situation with no trouble. “Hey, buddy, do you need any help?” he said. “Do you mind if I jump into your truck and I’ll just pull it out for you?” Problem solved.

An abbreviated version of what happened next: Case and his girlfriend broke up. Sammy commented on a photo Case had posted on Instagram. Case responded. They went out for ice cream. They talked all night next to a bonfire. Sammy learned that Case could fix just about anything. Case learned that Sammy knew pretty much nothing about football. “How do you not know anything about football? It’s one of the biggest sports in the world,” he said. Sammy didn’t find out until later that Case was an Arizona State team captain. “How do you not tell everyone that?” she said.

Through their dating, Case realized something important.

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“I noticed that whenever I was with Sammy it brought out the best side of me,” he said. “That’s what I always wanted. The service side, the one that cares more about people, the one that reached out to people in need. When I’m with Sammy that’s the person I am. When we got together it was just a piece of cake. We know what we want to do in life. We’re on the same page, and we’re going.”

The fullback who has busted four facemasks stands in Room 105 at The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Gilbert. Every Sunday, Case and Sammy lead a youth group. On this day, they are talking to 13 teenagers about charity and how it comes in many forms. They start by playing games, two teams trying to get a pingpong ball into small cups, a lesson in teamwork and support.

“So what are a few ways, besides playing games and encouraging your team, that we can show charity for others?” Sammy asks after the games are finished.

A boy says smiling at people when you pass them in the hall.

“One hundred percent,” Case says, his voice scratchy from yelling during team conditioning workouts just a couple of days earlier. “I love it.”

A girl says helping out a neighbor with gardening.

“Awesome,” Case says.

Everyone in the room knows Case plays college football, but it’s not a huge talking point here. Case brings it up to make a point on how the platform can bring attention to areas important to him, like this church. And helping others. The point: Acts of kindness stick with people much longer than anything that happens on a football field. (And as for the facemasks: At Arizona State, this usually happens a couple of times a season. Offensive lineman Christian Westerman busted his up a few years ago. That Case, listed at 6-1, 230 pounds, has broken four says something about the power with which he plays.)

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“God has given each of us special talents,” Case tells the teenagers. “Our talents might be different from our friends. They might be different from our family. But whatever it is, we each have a special talent that God wants us to use in order to see success in our lives. … Being really good at school. Being really good at sports. Being really good at your job. Whatever it may be, God has given you a special talent in this life. The reason for that is to be successful and to devote your time, your talent and your energy to help serve others and to bring glory to his name.”

(Top photo: Joe Camporeale / USA Today)