RAMSEY: 'Ultimate underdog' Hall gets his NFL shot

Fisher DeBerry sat Sunday night in his Oklahoma living room, where he watched and smiled as Chad Hall motored to the initial first down of his NFL career.

“Great catch, boy,” DeBerry said quietly. “Great catch, Chad.”

At the same instant, Jemal Singleton rested alone in the recliner of his Colorado Springs basement, “my man cave, I guess.” As Hall passed the first-down marker, Singleton leaped to his feet, shouting for his wife.

“Jennifer, Jennifer,” Singleton shouted, “you’ve got to see this! You’ve got to see this!”

Jennifer sprinted to the man cave to watch the replay, and joined her husband to celebrate a player Singleton calls “the ultimate underdog.”

Against all odds, Hall had made his NFL debut as a running back for the Philadelphia Eagles and, as usual, delivered thrills for Air Force football fans. In the third quarter, Hall caught a 9-yard pass to give the Eagles a first down on a third-and-2 play.

“That’s what I’ve been waiting to do since my last game at Air Force,” Hall said of his catch. “It was a great feeling, It made me feel capable, made me feel I can do it.”

DeBerry, who led the Falcons from 1984 to 2006, was the first Division I college coach who believed in Hall’s potential. Other coaches took a quick glance at a 5-foot-7, 155-pound high school runner with limited speed and never looked again. DeBerry and former Falcons assistant coach Richard Bell saw past the frame. They saw vast, if hidden, potential.

“God didn’t Chad a big body, but he did give him a great big ol’ heart,” DeBerry said.

Singleton might have saved Hall’s career.  When he returned in 2006 to coach running backs at his alma mater, he faced a troubling challenge.

Hall had a gift, no doubt. He could run into a gang of angry tacklers and emerge virtually untouched.

But he fumbled five times as a sophomore and, in the worst moment of his football career, dropped the ball in the final minute of a close loss to Army. He lost his coaches’ and teammates’ trust.

Singleton went to work. He demanded Hall carry the ball higher, right above his heart, and when Hall failed to protect the ball in practice, even for an instant, the running back heard Singleton’s enraged voice. 

“Coach was always in my ear,” Hall said, “and he really, really helped.”

Mr. Fumble became Mr. Careful. Hall fumbled only three times in his junior and senior seasons while rising from the team’s biggest question mark to its biggest exclamation mark.

Singleton remained his critic but somewhere along the way the coach became a fan. He appreciated Hall’s aggressive, borderline crazed blocking and relentless approach to work.

“He was The Man,” Singleton said, “and he could have taken the easy road, but he always did more.”

When Troy Calhoun replaced DeBerry for the 2007 season, he essentially handed the offense to Hall, who responded with one of most spectacular seasons in Air Force history, rushing for 1,478 yards and leading the Falcons to a 9-4 record.

Yet Hall, as always, wanted more. He wanted to again defy the odds. He wanted to play in the NFL.

For two years, Hall worked during the day as a maintenance officer at Hill Air Force Base in Utah and labored on his NFL visions at night. He ran sprints, lifted weights, found friends to throw him passes.

In March, he received an early release from the Air Force and signed a three-season deal with the Eagles. He faced a brutal road to a roster spot and playing time, but he had never quit believing the NFL was his destiny.

“You can have supporters and people who believe but ultimately it comes down to you,” Hall said. “If you don’t believe it, it’s definitely not going to happen.”

On Sunday, it finally happened. An NFL rookie caught his first pass and a retired coach rejoiced in Oklahoma and a working coach celebrated in Colorado Springs.

The coaches were part of a happy crowd as Air Force fans everywhere joined this unlikely, uplifting football party.