Welcome to TBO.com. Skip directly to: our Keyword Search, Section Navigation, Content.

TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

News :: Opinion

TBO > News > Opinion

Fennelly column: Broncos' Hall Tougher Than Latest Tough Break

By MARTIN FENNELLY | The Tampa Tribune

Published: December 2, 2007

Updated: 12/02/2007 12:22 am

Sunday at Soldier Field, on his first carry of his first NFL start, Denver Broncos rookie running back Andre Hall felt his ankle twist under a pile of Chicago Bears.

It figured.

"First start and there it goes," Hall said.

He kept going.

That figured, too.

"You only get one chance."

The previous Monday, he'd come in and broken off a 62-yard touchdown run. "I think I might be able to do this," he thought as he crossed the goal line.

Now he did it again and again, high ankle sprain or no. The Broncos lost in overtime, but Hall, third string a month ago, scored another touchdown, rushed for 98 yards and caught two passes for 69 yards.

Hall, 25, the greatest running back in the history of the University of South Florida, finally hit his NFL stride, even if he left limping. He was undrafted in 2006. He signed with the Bucs, but didn't stick. He tried out in so many places he forgot all of them. He didn't stick.

"So this feels real good," Hall said.

To The Back Of The Line

The ankle did him in this week. "I'm kind of beat up," Hall said. He'll miss today's game at Oakland. Knee injuries to the men ahead of him, Travis Henry and Selvin Young, gave him his chance. Now he might return to the back of the line. That's the NFL for you.

"Now my ankle," Hall said. "Man, it's tough."

How many chances do you get?

The Broncos praised Hall's effort. "For him to play with that type of ankle injury is really a credit to him to last as long as he did," Broncos coach Mike Shanahan said.

He'd waited too long to not keep going.

This week, Andre Hall was an NFL star. The other night, he was the guest on the radio show hosted by teammate John Lynch - remember him, too?

Now Hall is on the phone in Denver.

He's talking about ... USF football.

"I'm really excited about the great season," he said. "Those are my guys."

He was their guy. It was like that for most anyone who watched Hall at Dixie Hollins High School or USF remembers him - undersized, but with the heart of a lion.

After he wasn't drafted, the Bucs signed him as a free agent in May 2006. "I dreamed of making the team," Hall said. He was released before training camp.

"That was one of the worst days of my life."

He tried out with other teams. Buffalo, Seattle, Miami, Denver and Houston among them.

"In one day, out the next," Hall said.

But then the Broncos signed Hall to their practice squad last November. He spent the final seven weeks of the season running scout team in practice, getting the defense ready by giving them the looks of running backs they'd face. Andre Hall pretended to be Kansas City's Larry Johnson, Seattle's Shaun Alexander and San Diego's LaDainian Tomlinson.

"I just wanted a chance to be myself," he said.

But he loved being a Bronco. "It feels like family," Hall said. One of his best friends was reserve running back Damien Nash, just four months older and had dreams just as big. "Damien had a smile for everybody," Hall said. When Hall couldn't get back to St. Petersburg for Christmas, he spent the holiday with Nash and his family.

A week later, Broncos defensive back Darrent Williams was shot to death outside a Denver nightclub. Then, on Feb. 24, Damien Nash collapsed after a charity basketball game in his hometown of St. Louis. The event was a fundraiser for Nash's older brother, who had undergone a heart transplant. Damien Nash died where he fell.

Andre Hall keeps Nash's picture in his locker and wears a bracelet bearing Nash's name.

"You got to live every day," Hall said.

'You Can't Keep Me Down'

After the last preseason game this season, Hall waited to be cut by the Broncos. Maybe he'd rejoin the practice squad. He waited for the phone call from coaches wanting to see him and break the news.

"But the call never came," he said.

He was an NFL rookie.

"It was one of the best days of my life."

He remembered what his mother told him every time his heart broke.

"She said, 'Pray to the Lord,'" Hall said.

So what was getting doubted, told "No" by all those teams?

What was an injury Sunday in Chicago?

What's anything compared to his friend Damien Nash?

You got to live every day.

That ankle isn't broken, but it's a tough break.

This guy is tougher.

"You can't keep me down," Andre Hall said.