Tweet
Just a little link here on a local sports radio station.
Link
I really hope he comes back to being a big playmaker again, we need it this year. :dance:
Link
Originally posted by D.A.
(Editors Note: This column appears in the September edition of Warpaint Illustrated)
Like the Olsen Twins and the World Series of Poker, Dante Hall has grown up right before our very eyes.
-Ive been talking about it all summer to my friends and family, man. I cant believe Im going into my seventh season.-
The once tentative running back out of Texas A&M is now the seasoned X-Factor entering season number-seven in the NFL.
-Im starting to get vet privileges. On the charter plane, Im actually in first class now, I thought I was gonna have to wait ten years to make it up there! Its a lovely thing.-
Yet, for every perk being a veteran brings, Hall feels like a rookie all over again. His longtime special teams coach Frank Gansz Jr. left for Baltimore. His steady kick return running mate Gary Stills is in New England. A new system has him wondering just where to be and when to be there.
-We are running a totally different scheme, I feel like a rookie again. The returns are all different. The responsibilities are totally different. As for me, Im loving that because I think teams facing us got used to what we do, now we will catch teams off guard.
The red-and-gold crazies in the 300-level need not fret about the Human Joysticks fireworks being doused by the winds of change. Hall has history on his mind, sitting tied with the immortal Gayle Sayers atop the all-time kickoff returns for touchdowns list with six.
-Thats very cool, very, very cool. But I want to pass Gayle. I want to pass Gayle! Then I would really have something to brag about to my son, Adonis! But for me its always been about the team first. I dont care if you rush for 1,700 yards, return ten kicks, catch 15 balls, thereÕs probably ten other guys who had a lot to do with it.-
On top of it, new coach Herm Edwards drastically scaled back the length and intensity of training camp practices, leaving Hall and the rest of his teammates energized and refreshed.
-I can feel my legs!- Hall says laughing. -Its a whole new program, Coach Edwards was a former players so he runs it the way a player would want it. As a (former) player coming through, you know how your body feels, how your mind can turn into mush. I just think going through what he went through as a player, the coach tends to think and go about business like a player. Little things that a coach that never played the game would never understand.-
After his historical breakout season of 2003, where he garnered his second consecutive Pro-Bowl honor and left Arrowhead mouths agape with his staggering dine-and-dash against the Broncos, Hall faced a whole new set of hurdles. No longer did he have to prove his place in the league. He had to prove that ridiculous 03 season of five returns for touchdowns (which had never been accomplished before) were no fluke.
Opposing special teams drew up specific plays to limit his touches and effectiveness, sometimes going so far as simply drilling it out of bounds and asking the defense to make up the difference. The last two seasons for Hall have been like borrowing a friends IPod. You hope your favorite artist is loaded, but you just have no idea what to expect.
Halls touchdowns on kick returns were squeezed to just three combined over the past two seasons. Additionally, Hall was asked to focus on developing as a wide receiver as well. The Chiefs needed receiving depth with injuries to Johnny Morton and youngsters Samie Parker and Craphonso Thorpe still not-ready-for-prime-time players. This season, though, Halls focus is back on doing what he does best, leaving kickoff coverage teams with whiplash.
There will still be one huge void this season for Hall. His father figure and motivator, **** Vermiel, stepped down after five seasons of molding the X-Factor. Vermiel was the one who pumped him up as a youngster when he was deflated, made him believe he had a spot in the league when no spot was open.
-It was very hard to see him go, I mean I shed a tear for two days straight. He was a great coach and everybody loved him and appreciated him for the person that he was, it was hard, really hard, to see him go.-
Time flies when youre bringing back kicks to the house, flashing the X-Factor symbol in end zones and are generally regarded as the premier return artist in the NFL. But theres still something missing for Hall.
-I cant believe Im going into my seventh campaign. The only negative is Ive only been to the playoffs once. Thats the only negative.-
Will 2006 come up Lucky-7s for Hall? Chiefs fans hope X marks the spot.
Like the Olsen Twins and the World Series of Poker, Dante Hall has grown up right before our very eyes.
-Ive been talking about it all summer to my friends and family, man. I cant believe Im going into my seventh season.-
The once tentative running back out of Texas A&M is now the seasoned X-Factor entering season number-seven in the NFL.
-Im starting to get vet privileges. On the charter plane, Im actually in first class now, I thought I was gonna have to wait ten years to make it up there! Its a lovely thing.-
Yet, for every perk being a veteran brings, Hall feels like a rookie all over again. His longtime special teams coach Frank Gansz Jr. left for Baltimore. His steady kick return running mate Gary Stills is in New England. A new system has him wondering just where to be and when to be there.
-We are running a totally different scheme, I feel like a rookie again. The returns are all different. The responsibilities are totally different. As for me, Im loving that because I think teams facing us got used to what we do, now we will catch teams off guard.
The red-and-gold crazies in the 300-level need not fret about the Human Joysticks fireworks being doused by the winds of change. Hall has history on his mind, sitting tied with the immortal Gayle Sayers atop the all-time kickoff returns for touchdowns list with six.
-Thats very cool, very, very cool. But I want to pass Gayle. I want to pass Gayle! Then I would really have something to brag about to my son, Adonis! But for me its always been about the team first. I dont care if you rush for 1,700 yards, return ten kicks, catch 15 balls, thereÕs probably ten other guys who had a lot to do with it.-
On top of it, new coach Herm Edwards drastically scaled back the length and intensity of training camp practices, leaving Hall and the rest of his teammates energized and refreshed.
-I can feel my legs!- Hall says laughing. -Its a whole new program, Coach Edwards was a former players so he runs it the way a player would want it. As a (former) player coming through, you know how your body feels, how your mind can turn into mush. I just think going through what he went through as a player, the coach tends to think and go about business like a player. Little things that a coach that never played the game would never understand.-
After his historical breakout season of 2003, where he garnered his second consecutive Pro-Bowl honor and left Arrowhead mouths agape with his staggering dine-and-dash against the Broncos, Hall faced a whole new set of hurdles. No longer did he have to prove his place in the league. He had to prove that ridiculous 03 season of five returns for touchdowns (which had never been accomplished before) were no fluke.
Opposing special teams drew up specific plays to limit his touches and effectiveness, sometimes going so far as simply drilling it out of bounds and asking the defense to make up the difference. The last two seasons for Hall have been like borrowing a friends IPod. You hope your favorite artist is loaded, but you just have no idea what to expect.
Halls touchdowns on kick returns were squeezed to just three combined over the past two seasons. Additionally, Hall was asked to focus on developing as a wide receiver as well. The Chiefs needed receiving depth with injuries to Johnny Morton and youngsters Samie Parker and Craphonso Thorpe still not-ready-for-prime-time players. This season, though, Halls focus is back on doing what he does best, leaving kickoff coverage teams with whiplash.
There will still be one huge void this season for Hall. His father figure and motivator, **** Vermiel, stepped down after five seasons of molding the X-Factor. Vermiel was the one who pumped him up as a youngster when he was deflated, made him believe he had a spot in the league when no spot was open.
-It was very hard to see him go, I mean I shed a tear for two days straight. He was a great coach and everybody loved him and appreciated him for the person that he was, it was hard, really hard, to see him go.-
Time flies when youre bringing back kicks to the house, flashing the X-Factor symbol in end zones and are generally regarded as the premier return artist in the NFL. But theres still something missing for Hall.
-I cant believe Im going into my seventh campaign. The only negative is Ive only been to the playoffs once. Thats the only negative.-
Will 2006 come up Lucky-7s for Hall? Chiefs fans hope X marks the spot.
Comment