DeAngelo Hall has completely changed over the course of the last 14 years. Gone are the days of the high-profile, big-mouth, ultra-abrasive D. Hall…who arguably cared more about money and stats than teamwork. Now we have DeAngelo, a grown man and father, who at the age of 33 can now see the end of his career fast approaching and he’s willing to do whatever he can to prolong it, but only if he can be a productive member of the Redskins.
Hall still has one-year left on a deal he signed before the 2014 season. He wants it to be clear that he’s willing to rework the deal completely to help the team. “I signed that deal four years ago, and I’ve been hurt every year since then. I want to ultimately do what’s best for this team as well,” said Hall. “I’m not here trying to rob nobody and just keep making the same thing, If I show that I can be healthy and play 16 weeks, then maybe we incentivize it and do something like that, that’s something me and my agent’s kind of talked about because I kind of expressed the same concerns to him, like, man, I just feel like I’m stealing money.
The injuries Hall has suffered have kept him from reaping the benefits of the new mindset as well as finish his transition from cornerback to safety. “Achilles, turf toe, ACL…ain’t much left for me to tear at this point,” he said.
One thing Hall says he noticed while not playing is that defensive coordinator Joe Barry is not to blame for the defense statistically underachieving. “People always want to blame coaches for not winning games or giving up yards,” said Hall. “I’ve never seen a coach make a tackle, get an interception, make a play. I’m a believer that the guys in this locker room are what win and lose games. I told our guys before the Chicago game, ‘It doesn’t matter what the call is. Go out there and play the call. We can’t change the call.’ That’s kind of how I feel. No coach, good or bad, is really winning and losing games.”
As much as Hall wants to continue his career, he fully admits that after all the journey’s with injuries he’s dealt with over the past four seasons that he cannot sustain another rehabilitation process and would likely retire if re-injured. “My body can take as many (injuries) as I allow it to take from a recovery standpoint,” Hall said. “But If I get hurt again, I’m done. I’m tired of it. Anybody can push themselves to keep doing something over and over again. It’s frustrating because to not be hurt for so long and then to kind of just compound them back to back to back, it’s been kind of hard.”
Hall intends to play with the Redskins next season and hopes to figure into the team’s plans. If not, he really hasn’t thought much about playing for another team. “I do feel like I can still play, I can still be great,” said Hall. “But do I want to go somewhere else? I’ve been here so long and I’m so comfortable with these guys, I don’t even know if I would want to. But it’s something I would have to sit down and think about. We’ll see. Only time will tell what’s going to happen.”
Hall’s full interview (via CSN Mid-Atlantic) is below:
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