watermock
09-10-2008, 02:04 AM
I admit, I loved him, but was allready scared of his showboating...it seemed more vindictive than chilish.
From a raiders board:
I'm a Falcons fan, so it goes without saying that I've been following DeAngelo Hall throughout his entire tenure as a Falcon.
Hall used to be one of my favourite players. His fire, his passion, and his undeniable talent were extremely popular among the Falcons fan base. During Hall's rookie year, I remember him intercepting a hitch pass for a touchdown in a display of athleticism rarely seen in the NFL (it was called back unfortunately). I remember the Giants staff saying that they gameplanned to avoid Hall as they thought he would shut down his side of the field. All of this happened in just his rookie year, so those of us over in Falcons land were obviously wildly optimistic.
Enter Hall's second year. One of the most anticipated matchups in the NFL was taking place in week 1; the Eagles, at that time an absolute NFC Powerhouse who had been to the title game 3 or 4 times in a row, were coming to the Georgia dome to play the Falcons, whom they eliminated last year in the conference game on the way to the Super Bowl. Jawing took place, two players were ejected before the game for throwing punches, and Hall could be seen in the middle of the field, slamming an Eagles helmet onto the turf. Luckily he wasn't punished, but damn it got us fired up.
The storyline was, of course, the TO vs Hall matchup Hall did a very good job all night, limiting TO to very few important catches. Yes he did finish with over 100 yards, but none of TO's catches were meaningful; 10 on this drive, 9 on another drive, never enough to help mount a scoring drive for the Eagles. Hall managed to intercept an errant McNabb pass after he was drilled, and shut down TO when it really mattered, on the final Eagles play of the game.
2005 was a good season, Hall played very well (even holding Galloway, who was on fire that season, to 0 catches) and earned his first Pro Bowl nod. We were all convinced we had the best Corner in the NFL.
From then on, it all went downhill. His ego started to show, and his jawfests with Chad Johnson were absolutely ridiculous. Sure they were amusing at first, but when Hall shaved his head to read "I Own 85" then proceeded to get his ankles broken by the same "85" for a TD, we started to worry a bit. He would never shut up, and made a TON of stupid plays. The most memorable for me would be one game against the Saints.
There were about 2 seconds left in the half, Saints had the ball at around the 50. The game was still in reach (the Saints were up by 1 or 2 TDs), and all we needed to do was to knock down Brees's Hail Mary to enter the half. Brees airs it downfield, and Hall is in front of the Receiver. What does he do? Try to pad his stats and go for the interception. Ball sails right through his hands, right into the Saints' players hands, and suddenly we're down by another score.
After this game, Hall detractors could be seen everywhere on the Falcons message boards. Many were calling for his head, but of course he still had a huge fanbase due to his magical 2005 season and his unbelievable athletic talents. However, it just kept spiraling downwards.
His selfishness really reared its ugly head when he tried to rip the ball from his own teammates' hands. I forgot precisely which game it was, but Lawyer Milloy and Hall both went up for an interception, and Hall actually tried to rip it from Milloy's hands before letting Milloy just take it. Same thing happened the same game when Jimmy Williams, our pot-smoking Safety bust extraordinaire, also intercepted a ball and Hall also tried to wrestle him for it for a good 3 or 4 seconds before letting it go.
The final straw was the game last year against the Carolina Panthers. Hall had been having a very strong game, limiting Steve Smith to only a handful of catches. We were up by a TD, and the Panthers were faced with a third and long. What does Hall do? Punch Smith in the face, drawing a 15 yard personal foul penalty. That wasn't even the worst of it, he did the same thing TWO other times on that drive, practically giving the Panthers the ball in the endzone. Sound familiar? If I'm not mistaken, he almost duplicated this feat yesterday night against the Broncos. I'd have thought that he learned his lesson already, apparently not.
I'm sure a lot of the excuses Hall supporters gave on the Falcons boards are similar to the ones going on here. "He is playing with fire and passion, we would rather have the penalties than a player with no emotion." That one was used a lot. How about this one? "Hall is a man Corner, not a zone Corner. His talents are being misused by Ed Donatell's [our old defensive coordinator] bend-but-don't-break scheme." That one ran rampant. We also had a ton of "There's no pressure on the QB, Hall can't do everything." Oh and "The rest of the secondary sucks, Hall gets no help." (Although I'm sure Raiders fans won't use that one, Aso is amazing).
As long as Hall is here, there will always be a bunch of rabid supporters of his no matter what he does. This is because he makes spectacular plays every once in a while that flash his true potential. His athleticism alone is something to make fans go crazy for. We always thought that he'd mature, that he'd match his incredible physical prowess with the mental part of the game. Well, we've been waiting 4 years, and if last night was any indication, the day when he just "gets it" is still far away.
What you got, Oakland, was a young playmaker who will dazzle with an unbelievable play. But for every one of those, he will have a mental lapse that would lead him to do something absolutely retarded. What you got was someone who cares about his own stats far more than he cares about winning. What you got was someone who plays just to try and make the Pro Bowl.
What you got was DeAngelo Hall. Sorry, no refunds. He's your headache now.
From a raiders board:
I'm a Falcons fan, so it goes without saying that I've been following DeAngelo Hall throughout his entire tenure as a Falcon.
Hall used to be one of my favourite players. His fire, his passion, and his undeniable talent were extremely popular among the Falcons fan base. During Hall's rookie year, I remember him intercepting a hitch pass for a touchdown in a display of athleticism rarely seen in the NFL (it was called back unfortunately). I remember the Giants staff saying that they gameplanned to avoid Hall as they thought he would shut down his side of the field. All of this happened in just his rookie year, so those of us over in Falcons land were obviously wildly optimistic.
Enter Hall's second year. One of the most anticipated matchups in the NFL was taking place in week 1; the Eagles, at that time an absolute NFC Powerhouse who had been to the title game 3 or 4 times in a row, were coming to the Georgia dome to play the Falcons, whom they eliminated last year in the conference game on the way to the Super Bowl. Jawing took place, two players were ejected before the game for throwing punches, and Hall could be seen in the middle of the field, slamming an Eagles helmet onto the turf. Luckily he wasn't punished, but damn it got us fired up.
The storyline was, of course, the TO vs Hall matchup Hall did a very good job all night, limiting TO to very few important catches. Yes he did finish with over 100 yards, but none of TO's catches were meaningful; 10 on this drive, 9 on another drive, never enough to help mount a scoring drive for the Eagles. Hall managed to intercept an errant McNabb pass after he was drilled, and shut down TO when it really mattered, on the final Eagles play of the game.
2005 was a good season, Hall played very well (even holding Galloway, who was on fire that season, to 0 catches) and earned his first Pro Bowl nod. We were all convinced we had the best Corner in the NFL.
From then on, it all went downhill. His ego started to show, and his jawfests with Chad Johnson were absolutely ridiculous. Sure they were amusing at first, but when Hall shaved his head to read "I Own 85" then proceeded to get his ankles broken by the same "85" for a TD, we started to worry a bit. He would never shut up, and made a TON of stupid plays. The most memorable for me would be one game against the Saints.
There were about 2 seconds left in the half, Saints had the ball at around the 50. The game was still in reach (the Saints were up by 1 or 2 TDs), and all we needed to do was to knock down Brees's Hail Mary to enter the half. Brees airs it downfield, and Hall is in front of the Receiver. What does he do? Try to pad his stats and go for the interception. Ball sails right through his hands, right into the Saints' players hands, and suddenly we're down by another score.
After this game, Hall detractors could be seen everywhere on the Falcons message boards. Many were calling for his head, but of course he still had a huge fanbase due to his magical 2005 season and his unbelievable athletic talents. However, it just kept spiraling downwards.
His selfishness really reared its ugly head when he tried to rip the ball from his own teammates' hands. I forgot precisely which game it was, but Lawyer Milloy and Hall both went up for an interception, and Hall actually tried to rip it from Milloy's hands before letting Milloy just take it. Same thing happened the same game when Jimmy Williams, our pot-smoking Safety bust extraordinaire, also intercepted a ball and Hall also tried to wrestle him for it for a good 3 or 4 seconds before letting it go.
The final straw was the game last year against the Carolina Panthers. Hall had been having a very strong game, limiting Steve Smith to only a handful of catches. We were up by a TD, and the Panthers were faced with a third and long. What does Hall do? Punch Smith in the face, drawing a 15 yard personal foul penalty. That wasn't even the worst of it, he did the same thing TWO other times on that drive, practically giving the Panthers the ball in the endzone. Sound familiar? If I'm not mistaken, he almost duplicated this feat yesterday night against the Broncos. I'd have thought that he learned his lesson already, apparently not.
I'm sure a lot of the excuses Hall supporters gave on the Falcons boards are similar to the ones going on here. "He is playing with fire and passion, we would rather have the penalties than a player with no emotion." That one was used a lot. How about this one? "Hall is a man Corner, not a zone Corner. His talents are being misused by Ed Donatell's [our old defensive coordinator] bend-but-don't-break scheme." That one ran rampant. We also had a ton of "There's no pressure on the QB, Hall can't do everything." Oh and "The rest of the secondary sucks, Hall gets no help." (Although I'm sure Raiders fans won't use that one, Aso is amazing).
As long as Hall is here, there will always be a bunch of rabid supporters of his no matter what he does. This is because he makes spectacular plays every once in a while that flash his true potential. His athleticism alone is something to make fans go crazy for. We always thought that he'd mature, that he'd match his incredible physical prowess with the mental part of the game. Well, we've been waiting 4 years, and if last night was any indication, the day when he just "gets it" is still far away.
What you got, Oakland, was a young playmaker who will dazzle with an unbelievable play. But for every one of those, he will have a mental lapse that would lead him to do something absolutely retarded. What you got was someone who cares about his own stats far more than he cares about winning. What you got was someone who plays just to try and make the Pro Bowl.
What you got was DeAngelo Hall. Sorry, no refunds. He's your headache now.