DeAngelo Hall Retires, Says He’d Be in HOF If He Played vs. Jay Cutler More

DeAngelo Hall announced the end of his distinguished NFL career Wednesday.

However if the three-time Pro Bowl defensive back had played for an NFC North team, his next stop might’ve been Canton.

Hall reflected on the best day of his 14-year career, which occurred Oct. 24, 2010. As a member of the Redskins, Hall intercepted Bears quarterback Jay Cutler four times that afternoon. Washington pulled off a 17-14 upset at Soldier Field, and Hall picked up (picked off?) NFC defensive player of the week honors.

“If I could have played against Jay Cutler more, I probably would be in the Hall of Fame by now, but it didn’t quite work out,” said Hall, who finished with 43 career INTs, though his final one came in 2013.

Cutler called Hall just “another player” prior to their next matchup in 2013. The Bears lost that day, too.

A first-round pick of the Falcons in 2004, Hall’s colorful career included a brief stop in Oakland in 2008 before he joined Washington midway through that season.

“I thought I had a chance to come to Washington via trade from Atlanta,” Hall, a Virginia native, recalled. “We ended up working out a deal, but Arthur Blank the owner of the Falcons and Mr. (Dan) Snyder couldn’t work out the, I guess, the compensation for that deal.

“So, I had to go to the only place that would take me … the only other place that we had a deal worked out, which was Oakland. … I was released from there, and I had the opportunity to come back here to finish those eight games out of that 2008 season.

“To be a kid from Chesapeake, Va., to play at Virginia Tech and grow up a huge Darrell Green fan and Washington Redskin fan, I mean it’s been a dream. You know, it’s been a dream to put on the Burgundy and Gold for the past ten years and try to win football games. You know, that championships eluded me in every facet of my football career, but I still feel blessed, I feel fulfilled.”