Joe Hall (American football)

Rather than sit out for a year at a four-year school, Hall decided to enroll at Palomar College, a junior college and thus two-year institution, in 1997.[4] He was 280 pounds upon joining Palomar,[3] but near the end of his first football season "got bored" and began eating, going up to 290 pounds for the team's bowl game.[4] He finished his freshman season with 733 rushing yards, good enough to be named the team's most valuable player.[4]

Hall had his best collegiate season as a sophomore in 1998, leading Palomar to the national championship with an 11–1 record while setting school records for single-season rushing yards (1,647) and single-game rushing yards, being named first-team All-American by the J. C. Grid Wire as well as the California Offensive Player of the Year.[1] What made his rushing totals "even more impressive," according to the North County Times, was the fact that Palomar was a pass-heavy team, although their coach admitted that Hall "made us adjust."[4]

Among his notable performances in the 1998 season were games against Mt. San Antonio College, the defending national champion, where he ran 42 times for 187 yards and two scores in an upset victory;[8] City College of San Francisco, where he scored two touchdowns to win the state and national championship;[1][9] Pasadena Junior College, where he ran for 246 yards and three touchdowns;[10] and Saddleback College, where he set the all-time school record with 261 rushing yards.[1] Hall finished his two-year stint at Palomar as holder of the all-time team record for career rushing, having gained 2,437 yards, a record that still stands.[1]

Hall on the cover of Powercat Illustrated

Hall was recruited by many NCAA Division I schools, although some of them wanted to change his position to blocker or the defensive line, each of which he rejected as he said he didn't want to become "a glorified offensive lineman."[7] As signing day approached, Hall narrowed down his offers to the Kansas State University Wildcats, the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) Rebels, and the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa Rainbow Warriors.[5] He had verbally committed to Kansas State, but then at the last minute, the University of Southern California (USC) Trojans "made a hard run" at him.[5] Although Hall had stated USC was his "dream school," he opted to remain at Kansas State, saying "I gave my word to Kansas State, and your word has to mean something."[5]

Hall later said that the Kansas State coaching staff had promised he would not be a blocker on the football team.[3] When he arrived for practice weighing 310 pounds, he was asked to learn how to become a lead blocker.[3] Believing he was misled ("I grew up in a house where if somebody told me they were going to do something, they did it," he said), Hall "rebelled" against the staff and as a result, became the third-string at his position.[3][11]

Eventually accepting his position as a fullback, Hall made his debut against Temple in the season-opener and ran for 22 yards.[12] He ran for 12 yards in their second game, against UTEP, before recording 39 yards and a touchdown against Iowa State the following week.[12] Following injuries to David Allen and Frank Murphy, Hall became the top back for Kansas State's game against Utah State.[11] In his first game as the main back, Hall ran for 195 yards and scored two touchdowns, helping the Wildcats win and hold Utah State scoreless, 40–0.[11] Afterwards, Sports Illustrated wrote about Hall and described him as "the largest running back to ever rush for 100 yards in an NCAA game."[1]

Being heralded as the "biggest tailback in America," Hall recorded his second consecutive 100-yard game the following week versus Oklahoma State, gaining 112 yards on 27 carries.[13] Against Baylor in their next game, Hall made his third straight 100-yard performance, gaining 109 in the win.[14] Hall ran for 50 yards on 18 attempts against Colorado,[15] but then was ordered to appear in court for municipal alcohol infractions[16] and missed the game against Nebraska.[17]

By this point in the season, Hall had run for 603 yards, leading the team.[16] He only ran for 10 combined yards in the final two games, finishing the season with 613 rushing yards and six touchdowns, still good enough to lead the team,[17] in addition to three receptions for 39 yards.[18] In the classroom, Hall reportedly had "sub-par" grades,[19] including several classes that were marked as "incomplete,"[20] and in January 2000 Hall dropped out[20] and became academically ineligible to play football.[21] Although his coach announced he was "making progress toward regaining his eligibility" in April,[22] Hall ended up missing spring practice and in July was ruled out for the 2000 season.[23]

While not playing football in 2000 and early 2001, Hall got into legal trouble multiple times: in June 2000, he was arrested for carrying a concealed weapon; in November 2000, he was convicted for falsely reporting a crime; and in March 2001, he was convicted for driving on a suspended license.[21] Later, with the help of coach Bill Snyder, Hall learned "accountability" and changed,[21] saying that his past actions were "a childish act ... [but] I'm not a child anymore ... I'm past it."[3] He worked on getting back eligibility and eventually was able to make the team, making his return in the second game of the season, where he ran for 30 yards in a 64–0 win against New Mexico State.[24][25]

Hall saw limited action as a runner and was mainly used as a blocker in 2001,[1] only rushing for 251 yards on 39 carries (a 6.4 yards-per-carry average) while scoring three touchdowns.[18] He had one of his best games against Louisiana Tech on November 17, running three times for 81 yards and a touchdown, including a 61-yard rush where he was downed at the one-yard-line, the longest rush of the season for Kansas State.[26][27] He finished his two-season stint at Kansas State with 160 carries for 864 yards, scoring nine touchdowns while averaging 5.4 yards per carry.[18][28]