By Will Vandervort.
This time last week Rod Hall was preparing for what he hoped was a future in professional basketball, by last Friday afternoon he began prepping for a possible career in the NFL.
Hall worked out for six NFL teams Thursday at Clemson Football’s Indoor Practice Facility in Clemson. The six teams in attendance were the Bills, Browns, Chiefs, Panthers, Saints and Ravens.
“It started Friday morning and I got a couple of calls from a couple of different coaches and I was kind of shocked. I was not expecting it,” Hall said.
And no one was expecting Hall to run a 4.55 in the 40-yard dash either, especially considering he had only five days to prepare for the workout. His 40-time was better than a lot of defensive backs, wide receivers and running backs in this year’s NFL Combine and they spent weeks preparing for it.
Some notable 40-times Hall beat out were Duke wide receiver Jamison Crowder (4.56), Louisville running back Michael Dyer (4.58), Nebraska running back Ameer Abdullah (4.60), South Carolina running back Mike Davis (4.61) and Texas running back Malcolm Brown (4.62).
“A lot of guys train for months and hire people to do all of that and he just went out there and ran in cleats. He probably has not put on a pair of cleats in three or four years I would imagine,” Clemson basketball coach Brad Brownell said. “What was impressive to me was to see him catching all the balls. He is a natural to me at catching.
“I think he showed very well today. I’m happy for him and proud of him.”
After running his 40 and the short shuttle, which was a time of 4.95 unofficially, Hall was asked to work out as a wide receiver and as a defensive back. At wide receiver scouts asked him run some slants, curls and long post routes. He did not drop a good pass that was thrown his way and he caught a few that were way off the mark.
At defensive back they tried to see how he moved his hips by back peddling and running backwards. It was during his defensive back drills that his hamstring began to tighten. He eventually retired after a second issue.
“I hurt my leg in the back peddling drill so I didn’t really get to see how I might do in that,” Hall said. “I didn’t get to change direction like I wanted to in those drills.”
Hall had not played football since his senior year of high school when caught 13 touchdowns for more than 1,200 yards at Laney High School in Augusta, Ga. He was the Region 3-AA Player of the Year and was an All-State selection.
“Being a basketball player all through college and there are so many guys out there that played college football, I wondered, ‘Why would they want to see me when I have not touched a football in four years,’” Hall said.
“There was not much I could do (to prepare). I was already in shape from playing, but one day I did a couple of cone drills and caught the ball a little bit to see where I was at.”
Hall will now have to wait to see what happens. The NFL Draft is next Thursday and will run through the weekend. After that NFL teams can sign free agents and invite them to rookie mini-camps.
“I’m going to keep staying in shape and I will do what I need to do, but I don’t know what is going to happen,” Hall said.