SAN DIEGO — It wasn't the cold nights in College Station or the nomadic lifestyle that made Ben Bitner question his chosen living arrangements. Instead, it was one rainy night that got to Bitner.

A spat with roommates had led the Texas A&M walk-on defensive back to decide to live on the streets — hammock, sleeping bag and hiking backpack in tow — for more than 18 months beginning in January 2005.

Bitner's strategy was fairly well thought out, down to a game plan for the infamous spring downpours.

He built a fort out of pallets in a wooded area behind the George Bush Presidential Library for shelter on rainy nights. But on one particular spring night, he found himself in a torrential downpour.

"It was raining real hard that night, so I walked all the way out there and set up my stuff," Bitner said. "Everything was working great. Water wasn't getting on me. It was great.

"Then the downpour came, a deluge, and everything just collapsed on me. I was under four or five pallets, and I was soaking wet. It really backfired on me."

Glen Johnson/Texas A&M

But Bitner was far from deterred. He'd chosen this dual lifestyle: student-athlete by day and a free-spirit wanderer by night.

And he had made it work.

"I would walk around at night, and wherever I was on campus when I got tired, I would seek out a dark spot and hang up my hammock," Bitner said. "If I didn't want to deal with that, then I would just lay down my sleeping bag, throwing my backpack at the top of it and use it as a pillow."

Most mornings, Bitner showered at the Bright Complex after early workouts with teammates. Then he would begin his day as a college student. He'd go to class, practice and then the library before seeking out a place to crash for the night.

It wasn't ideal, he admits. But, hey, he was saving $3,000, and he wasn't living off anyone. Initially, he thought he would only be outdoors for a couple of days until he got his plan together.

Days turned into weeks and weeks turned into months, and before long Bitner had been living outdoors more than a year.

"It wasn't bad at all," said Bitner, a junior from Round Rock. "I slept good. I'm not going to say I liked it.

"But to me, the only thing I didn't get that I had in a house is to watch TV any time I wanted. Other than that, I could go anywhere, do anything and wouldn't have to worry about cleaning up and I didn't have to worry about bills."

Eventually, his teammates and coaches found out. The first clue was the hammock that was often set up at the practice fields near the Bright Complex.

Several teammates offered Bitner shelter. His pride and need to pay his own way forced him to decline.

"He was really homeless, and no one knew it," senior safety Melvin Bullitt said. "It was like two or three months before someone noticed and was like, 'Hey, was you asleep outside?' "

His parents, Bobby and Colleen Bitner, had their concerns, as well. But because Bitner is paying his own way through school and he's an adult, they couldn't do much but suggest that he go live with his brother, also an A&M student.

'A weird guy'

"They would call, and if I didn't call for a while they would have my brother get a hold of me to make sure nothing was wrong," Bitner, 22, said. "Other than that, they figured I'm a weird guy anyway, so it would fit with my personality."

Indeed, it only takes a glance to figure out Bitner comes at life from a different angle. But nothing is quite as it seems.

He's 5-3 and 150 pounds, yet his tenacity and grit have earned him respect as a scout team player.

Bitner has long hair that usually hangs from under his helmet in a ponytail. But his hairstyle is far from a fad.

He plans to donate his hair, which he estimates to be 20 inches long, to Locks for Love shortly after the Aggies return from their Holiday Bowl against Cal on Thursday.

It's a promise Bitner made to himself a few years back when his grandmother died of cancer. He and a cousin wanted to donate hair to their grandmother for a wig while she went through therapy, but neither had enough.

"When she died, I decided five years was about the right amount of time for two donations," Bitner said. "Hopefully, I will have enough for two."

That's just one of the things he's most passionate about. The other, of course, is being a member of the A&M football team.

Bitner doesn't have game days to look forward to. He's seen the field for exactly four kickoffs during the last two years.

His reward comes from giving the first- and second-teamers a good look as they prepare for opponents each week. And by all accounts, he gives the Aggies more than just a picture.

"He has a willingness to do anything to help this team," A&M coach Dennis Franchione said. "He works hard because in practice every Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday is game day for him and he gives our guys a good look.

"Ben takes pride in doing that and he always puts his best foot forward. He always tries to do his best."

His teammates, who are bigger, stronger and faster, have noticed. They see Bitner's heart and determination, not to mention his joy in playing the sport.

"In two-a-days you look at Ben and he's smiling and running and hitting people," Bullitt said. "You're like, 'Gosh dang, I have to do this because this guy, he never plays, he never gets in, but he's giving 100 percent every day.'

"He's one of the guys I will always remember, and I will never forget him living outside."

The big hit

And then come the stories about Bitner on the practice field, including the one from last season when he knocked 280-pound running back Jorvorskie Lane unconscious during kickoff drills.

The two had collided on two previous occasions that afternoon with Bitner winning the first battle. Lane came back determined the second time after receiving a good chewing out from special-teams coordinator Mark Tommerdahl.

The third collision drew wows from their teammates.

"After a while, if someone just keeps coming back for more he's going to win," Bullitt said. "Next thing you know Jorvorskie is on the ground, Ben's shoulder is hurting. All for nothing."

Bitner finds humor in the encounter a year later.

"I've got some pride, I've played against athletes," he said. "I can play a little bit of football. I may not be that big, but I can play.

"That guy is going to play in the NFL and I will be able to tell my kids, 'I knocked that guy out once.' "

He'll also be able to tell them about his adventures of living outside for more than a year. But his living arrangements have improved.

Bitner decided this semester to rent a house off campus because his parents were in transition from Round Rock and needed someplace for their three dogs to live.

"If they weren't moving and they didn't need somebody to take the dogs," he said, "I'd say it would be like a 75 percent chance I would still be outside."

terrance.harris@chron.com