DJ Hall had all the tools to run to glory and an NFL career but wasted it all
DJ Hall was a man with many gifts, but many demons as well. He had speed, hands and elusiveness, but that didn't overcome his lackadaisical attitude, lack of courage or his ability to buy into a successful process.
Though he left with many records as a receiver, he also left with the scorn of most of his teammates and an attitude that made him fail miserably at the next level despite having the talent.
Hall went from being an asset on the team to a liability because of his attitude. When Nick Saban came to take over the Tide in 2007, Hall was a star and he was upset that Saban didn't treat him like one.
Saban worked hard to get every team member to buy into his "process," but Hall would have none of it. He and a few others resented any thought they could learn anything new from this new coach. They talked about him behind his back and tried to get other players to buy into their way of thinking, not Saban's.
It finally came to a head when Hall was beaten up by another team member who saw that Hall no longer had the team's interest at heart, only his own. His own teammates were getting sick of his attitude.
Hall left for the NFL combine, and scouts there remarked, "I hear he won't go over the middle if there was a hundred-dollar bill laying in the middle of the ground."
At one time he was a high draft pick, but his sour attitude in his senior year cost him. He went undrafted.
He did, however, sign a 2008 free-agent contract with the New York Giants, but they waived him quickly.
He was later signed to the Oakland Raiders practice squad, but never saw any playing time and was cut.
He turned to Canadian football and signed with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers in 2010, only to pull a hamstring in preseason and then be cut in June.
Next, he made even worse decisions. He went back to Tuscaloosa in October of 2010 and was arrested with marijuana, baggies and other drugs as well as a 9mm pistol.
Hall was charged with first-degree possession of marijuana and first-degree possession of a controlled substance and was finally released on $30,000 bail.
Hall is a player who possessed such great talent that, had he bought into Saban's process, sought to get just a little better every day and gone into the NFL draft with that attitude, he may have been a star in the league right now and a very wealthy man.
Now it appears he'll be just another washed-up has-been with a criminal record and no real future. That is sad. He is not, and may never be a welcomed guest to ever be asked to return to visit the campus or future teams.
Many coaches from teams across the country all know that talent without character equals a problem player. Hall, unfortunately, was the last Alabama man to prove that true.
Somewhere, DJ Hall is contemplating what will become of the rest of his life. It won't include professional football or huge throngs of fans happy to see him again. It won't include his teammates wishing him well at reunions or even a career in coaching.
It could have been so different for a man with this much talent. If only he could have used that talent without the ego problems and the lax work ethic, he would still be a star.
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