DeAngelo Hall's Foot So Far Down His Throat That It's Tickling His Liver

by Dave Choate on Feb 23, 2008 12:58 AM EST in Falcons News

I wish it wasn't going to end like this. I really do. It'd be nice if he just swallowed his enormous pride and shut up every now and then. Take this, for example:

"Maybe that's a sign that they don't want to be good, if they're saying I make the team better when I'm on it, and they're trying to move me and trade me," Hall said.

I'm not saying the new regime is perfect, and just an extremely late first round pick (as the Giants are rumored to be considering) for Hall would be larceny for the Elisha Mannings. But Jesus Christ, DeAngelo Hall. Could you at least pretend to give a crap about anyone other than yourself?

For all his considerable talent and potential, I've been uneasy with Hall for a long time now. He gobbles up some #1 receivers and gets his couch wrecked by the Steve Smiths of the world. In addition, he's been an extremely loud nuisance ever since Jim Mora left. He complains about how much of a microscope he's under while slamming the team, coaches and the whole organization in impromptu press conferences. In short, he's a considerable asset on the field and a detrimental force of nature off of it. In an ideal world, the Falcons could let that slide and keep him around. In the very real, very grim world this team exists in, however, it's probably best for him to go.

Is it unfair to Hall? Yeah, it kinda is. Nobody wants to be told that they're wanted and then be shopped. I'm basically forced to believe in this new leadership, so if DeAngelo Hall and his ego have to go elsewhere to push this team forward, I reluctantly support it. I think I speak for a lot of Falcons fans when I say that I wish Hall had made it easier to root for him out there; unlike with Crumpler or Coleman, I'm not going to be too inclined to cheer for him when I next see him. Like so many Falcons of the last decade, Hall was a terrific talent who will likely leave town without ever having fulfilled everything which was expected of him.

Let's just make sure the team gets value for him, or I'm going to be pissed off.

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Chump

A breif synopsis of how I feel the D Hall saga went down.

Falcons start totally sucking

D Hall is frustrated by the team sucking

D Hall starts complaining

D Hall hints that he wants to leave

Team starts looking at their options since D Hall hinted he didn't want to be around

D Hall gets pissed that the team is looking at the options to get rid of him.

This reminds me of some of the more irrational moments that my wife puts me through. Kinda like when she says "Honey don't worry about getting me a birthday present this year, there really isn't anything I want and I want us to save money" only to here "I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU DIDN'T BUY ME A BIRTHDAY PRESENT YOU JERK!" the very next day.

In a way, each of us has an El Guapo to face.

by runningback on Feb 23, 2008 10:05 AM EST reply actions

Haha

How long have you been married? Less than five years, and I'll forgive you. Any more than that though, and I have to say you aren't learning wife-speak and should probably look at taking a class. When she says that she doesn't want a gift for her birthday/anniversary/christmas/V-Day, or anything else for that matter, you should automatically hear, "I'm telling you this to see if you really love me and if you don't go out and get me something then your @$$ is mine and you can forget about patty-cake time for a long, long time."

Haha, I can't remember how many times I used to tell my wife to say exactly what it is she wants and to stop with the alien wife riddles. I gave up on that and instead treated it as though I were arriving on another planet and had to figure out the language myself. That way, when she says what normal people hear as, "Honey, I love you," I hear, "Honey, I want you to do something for me." Haha.

But to the point at hand, D-Hall is a cranky guy. I think this is something we all know and have known for a while, so I don't think it should come as any surprise nor should it be something that we get upset over. Sure, I want the best players playing on my team, but after watching them simply cut Crumpler and Coleman, I can't say that I would be all that enthused with sticking around if it were myself in that position.

As of right now, we really don't know what has been said between management and D-Hall, or any of the players really, so maybe he did want to stay and was told they were shopping him. Maybe he didn't and is just saying it to make the team look like the bad guy (that's my bet), but either way, when the dust settles, and if he's gone, we better have gotten no less than two picks and a player or three picks straight up, all of which should be first day picks. If not, then I think my opinion of our new management will fall below what I deem acceptable behaviour for anyone running any kind of business.

As I have stated before, I am not entirely opposed to reshaping this team, cutting players and starting over, and rebuilding this franchise into something that we can swallow for once. If that means that those that were once the faces of the team have to go, then I canhandle it. I just don't want to see our team not getting anything back from players who are clearly sitting on the top shelf in thier respective positions.

And trust me, I would rather have a mouthy player who performs on Sunday than one who doesn't. So my overall opinion of D-Hall was that he was tolerable because of his talent and his performance. That's just me though.

by Jesse @ The Falcoholic on Feb 25, 2008 8:57 AM EST up reply actions

VALUE

I agree with Jesse that Value should be received. Because of the Cap situation we are now possibly faced with our O Line facing a rejuvanated Rod Coleman and our D Backs facing Crumpler. D Hall has talked his way out of Atlanta, but we should not be so eager to depart with him that we do not extract full value. A late first round pick along with a second & third or a first round pick in 2009 would be a starting point. D Hall for all his mouth is a 24 year old 2 time Pro Bowler with shut down ability. A talent that we would have to regain!

Richie

by richie on Feb 25, 2008 12:35 PM EST reply actions

Talent, yes. Attitude, no.

it would be very hard to fill the void in talent that D-Hall posseses, but we can make up for that by filling out the roster with talented, hard working guys who will put the team first.

by VBfalconfan on Feb 25, 2008 2:15 PM EST up reply actions

How exactly...

...is D-Hall's performance over the years of shutting down #1 WR's almost every single Sunday, not putting the team first? How is having a roster full of hard-working, full-of-heart, players with less talent and can't do what a mouthy me-first extremely talented and gifted player can, better for our team?

This is a common issue with fans, team management, and sportswriters that I have a slight problem with. They all say that they want to win. They all say that they want the best players available to them. They all say that they want those same players to be moral, pure, and true to the team without any form of personal quirks. Sure, I would love to have a team full of guys with execptional talent who are also people who give back to our community, who never get into trouble with the law, don't beat their wife or kids, are completely 100% loyal to the team, and would sacrifice themselves for the team and the goal of winning. But the reality is that you aren't going to find that unless we start manufacturing these guys in some android factory overseas.

I'm tired of hearing fans, management, and sportswriters cry for better players then complain when those players have small little quirks such as being mouthy as is the case with D-Hall. The reason why is because when Sunday comes, D-Hall produces regardless of how he feels about the coach or management. And to say that you would rather have less talented players says to me that you don't care about winning, which seems just plain wrong to me. You should always want the best players you can get talent-wise, not necessarily the best players psychologically, haha.

Let's take for example T.O. Can anyone here honestly looks themselves in the mirror and say that they wouldn't want him on our team? Sure, the guy can be one hell of a headache off the field, but not once has he not shown up on Sunday. Not once in SF or Philly did he not give it his all during a game. He always got his numbers and he completely changed the game for his opponents. If we could swing it, I would be all over that deal in a heartbeat because he isntantly makes our team better and gives us a much better chance at winning games. And ultimately, that's what it all comes down to, winning games.

Do you want to win, or do you want to win? Just as Crumpler and Coleman should still be on this team (because you don't get better by losing them), D-Hall should be on this team come Week 1.

by Jesse @ The Falcoholic on Feb 26, 2008 9:22 AM EST up reply actions

Ok...

I remember D-Hall getting in fights with teammates, blowing up in the Panthers game, calling out management and coaches (even if they deserved it, its not his place to do that in the media). Let's take a look at recent Super Bowl winners and see how many have "shut down" corners a la Mr. Hall.

Giants (nope)
Colts (nope)
Steelers (nope)
Pats (nope)
Pats (nope)
Bucs (Ronde Barber)
Pats (nope)
Ravens (Chris McAlister)

I can see where you are coming from, but don't get caught in the same hype that you were railing against. The myth of needing a shut down corner is just that, a myth. I am not saying you don't need solid corners, but good safeties and a great scheme can mask the need for the "shut down" corner.

Also, Jesse, do you want the Falcons to shell out $12M a year for D-Hall? That will be his asking price next spring. If Nate Clements got 8 for $80M, then D-Hall will get more than that.

by VBfalconfan on Feb 26, 2008 5:12 PM EST up reply actions

My underlying point...

...is simply that all too often fans and media don't know when to separate personal likes and dislike from a players ability to get the job done and I think that mainly that's what has been happening lately with D-Hall.

Sure, none of those teams you mentioned had absolute shutdown corners, but what you failed to mention is that those teams were exactly that, a full complete team with more cohesive talent thatn anything we have now, and though D-Hall may cost more than most corners, he is also more talented than most and in a sense deserving of the pay he gets. Plus, he's already in a contract, and though that only has what, one year left, that's more than enough time to hold off on dumping him right now while the sharks are circling and we won't get full value for him, what with all the cuts we have already made to high profile players.

And really, if you want me to answer your pay question directly, then sure, I wouldn't mind the Falcons paying him 12mil a year. With all that has already been released, holding on to D-Hall now, keeps us from adding yet another positional need to our draft, allowing us to focus on more pertinent things, such as QB and both lines.

The bottom line is that he still gives us a better chance at winning on our team than anything we would get in return for him would do.

by Jesse @ The Falcoholic on Feb 27, 2008 7:23 AM EST up reply actions