Joe Hall

Joe Luther Hall Jr. (born November 3, 1979) is an American football administrator, coach, and former fullback / running back who is currently the director of player development for the South Florida Bulls. After attending Artesia High School in California, he played college football at Palomar College and Kansas State, leading the former to the national junior college championship as a sophomore. At Kansas State, Hall spent three seasons, redshirting one, being described at over 300 pounds "the largest running back to ever rush for 100 yards in an NCAA game" by Sports Illustrated. Weighing 265 pounds by high school, he played football, baseball, and basketball at Artesia High School. He had not played football before joining Artesia, but was able to convince the coaches to allow him to play running back and scored 35 touchdowns on the junior varsity team. and in 1997, Hall was drafted in the 29th round (865th overall) of the Major League Baseball draft by the Detroit Tigers. He declined the offer to be in the Tigers' farm system, stating he wanted to play college football and baseball. What made his rushing totals "even more impressive," according to the North County Times, was that Palomar was a pass-heavy team, although their coach admitted that Hall "made us adjust." City College of San Francisco, where he scored two touchdowns to win the state and national championship; Pasadena Junior College, where he ran for 246 yards and three touchdowns; and Saddleback College, where he set the all-time school record with 261 rushing yards.

Eventually accepting his position as a fullback, Hall made his debut against Temple in the season-opener and ran for 22 yards. He ran for 12 yards in their second game, against UTEP, before recording 39 yards and a touchdown against Iowa State the following week. Against Baylor in their next game, Hall made his third straight 100-yard performance, gaining 109 in the win. Hall ran for 50 yards on 18 attempts against Colorado, but then was ordered to appear in court for municipal alcohol infractions and missed the game against Nebraska.

By this point in the season, Hall had run for 603 yards, leading the team. In the classroom, Hall reportedly had "sub-par" grades, including several classes that were marked as "incomplete," and in January 2000 Hall dropped out Although his coach announced he was "making progress toward regaining his eligibility" in April, Hall ended up missing spring practice and in July was ruled out for the 2000 season.

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.

Hall saw limited action as a runner and was mainly used as a blocker in 2001, 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.

Professional career

Although Hall had weighed up to 340 pounds He went unselected in the 2002 NFL draft, but afterwards was signed by the St. Louis Rams as an undrafted free agent. He was released before the start of training camp. Although Hall impressed in training camp and in preseason, he ended up being released at the final roster cuts on September 1. He was later brought back as a member of the practice squad. Hall spent the entire 2003 season as a practice squad player, as the Chiefs went 13–3 in the regular season, before losing to the Indianapolis Colts in the playoffs.

Hall was released by Kansas City in June 2004. He was assigned to the Rhein Fire of NFL Europe, where he appeared in four games, each as a starter, and recorded a touchdown and eight receptions for 66 yards. Hall was a member of the Oakland Raiders, his final team,

Later life

After his playing career, Hall became a coach for the MidAmerica Nazarene Pioneers of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), serving two seasons as wide receivers coach and one as a running backs coach. Following his time at MidAmerica Nazarene, he began working off-the-field as a counselor and behavior interventionist at multiple northeastern Kansas schools, such as Topeka West High School and Junction City High School.

In 2015, Hall was inducted into the California Community Colleges Football Association Hall of Fame. The following year, he was inducted into the Palomar College Athletic Hall of Fame. In this position, Hall "creates, develops and implements a student-athlete development program," which "fosters an environment of well-being and achievement."

Hall received a bachelor's degree from Kansas State in 2012, a master's of science from MidAmerica Nazarene in 2015, and a master's in school counseling from Kansas State in 2017.