Monday, November 9: The Unfortunate Culmination Of DeAngelo Hall Week
Posted by Matt Terl on November 9, 2009 – 9:21 amDeAngelo Hall never pretended that this was “just another game” or that he didn’t care about going back to Atlanta, but — despite what yesterday’s AP story claims — I never felt like his talk got out of control. He was pointedly, brutally critical of Falcons general manager Thomas Dimitroff, but still said all the right things about the players and coaches.
Still, Hall was lustily booed every time he was the spotlighted player — at player introductions, back to return punts — and, of course, was involved in possibly the lowest moment of a Redskins season that has seen plenty of low moments.
What strikes me watching the video today is how accurate Hall’s post-game recounting of the incident is.
“I ran over there to help my guy,” Hall said in the postgame locker room, “and next thing I know, one of their strength and conditioning coaches started grabbing at me, putting his hands on me. Then other guys put their hands on me. The whole time I’m trying to get them off me. After that, Coach (Mike) Smith came over to me, talking [stuff] to me, saying they were going to kick my [butt]. I stay in Atlanta during the offseason, so if Mike Smith wants to see me, he can definitely find me. That’s some [bullstuff] right there. But he can save that for another day.”
Given the level of sheer chaos on the sidelines (and it looked even more chaotic in person than it does in the broadcast), that’s actually pretty close to what seems to be happening.
Here, for contrast, is Falcons head coach Mike Smith’s description of what happened.
“There were a bunch of guys on that sideline,” Smith said. “Some of them were wearing black helmets and some of them were wearing maroon helmets. I can’t tell you anything more about it. It was very, very hectic on that sideline. There were a lot of things going on and my main goal was for the safety of our football team and restoring order.”
It doesn’t in any way excuse Hall’s actions. LaRon Landry‘s hit was clearly late, the flag was clearly deserved, and the Falcons players had every right to be upset. There was no need for Hall to defend anyone. But his clear description of what happened — especially next to Smith’s vague recounting — at least lends credence to the idea that Hall had SOME idea what he was doing and wasn’t just out of control.
It seems inevitable in hindsight that DeAngelo Hall Week was going to conclude with some kind of moment of brilliance or drama on Hall’s part — that one way or another, Hall was going to be involved in something pivotal. Given the way the first half of the game went, it’s no surprise that this was it.
******
One other note from watching the video: it is remarkable to see how all the Atlanta players suddenly go into reverse when Albert Haynesworth shows up. It seems like it’s been a long time since the Redskins had a player that inspired that kind of reaction. Also mildly amusing: Haynesworth shows up long after Justin Tryon and Chris Horton, and behind Kedric Golston and Cornelius Griffin; the announcers completely ignore those four guys to announce Haynesworth’s presence.
Tags: DeAngelo Hall, DeangeloHall
Posted in General | No Comments »
