hall of a playmaker

(photos by Brian Murphy)

As with most important things in life, we sought out cornerback Fred Smoot to find his opinion on the addition of cornerback DeAngelo Hall to what has now become a crowded Redskins secondary. Would the former “Love Boat Captain” welcome the addition of the talented, but sometimes troubled 24-year-old, or would he take it as a slap in the face from management, adding a Pro Bowler that could cut in to his own playing time?

“He’s a great addition,” Smoot said, when asked about his newest teammate. “The defensive backfield, we call it the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen because I don’t think nobody’s got the kind of superhero power in the backfield that we’ve got.”

Well then. That was easy. With that it was time to track down Hall and get his thoughts moments after his first game with the ‘Skins.

You talked about signing here because you were comfortable with the area. Obviously you’re familiar with Virginia growing up here and going to school at Virginia Tech. So let us ask, how was your first week on the job?

“It was good,” Hall said. “It felt good and I felt comfortable. I felt at home.”

And it didn’t take you very long to make an impact on the Redskins defense.

“Yeah, I was able to get the ball in my hands,” he said. “It was just a slant. T.O. kind of came off the ball aggressive, kind of knocked me off a little bit, but I stayed high on him. [Tony] Romo went front side first and then came back backside and just threw the ball a little bit behind him and I was able to get my hands on it.”

It had to feel pretty good to get that ball in your hands in the first quarter of your first game with the Washington Redskins, right?

“This is a great atmosphere,” he said. “There’s a lot of fans in this place and it’s a primetime game. Any time it’s a primetime game you feel so excited and so amped up. To get the ball in my hands did feel good.”

What have the coaches said to you as far as your role on this team for the remainder of the season?

“I don’t really know,” Hall said. “We haven’t really sat down and talked about it like that. We’ve got four great corners and the best ones are going to get on the field, however many we can get out there. However many packages we can work to get us all out there, that’s what we’re going to try and do.”

So you’re comfortable being a part of what Fred Smoot calls the “League of Extraordinary Gentlemen?”

“Yeah, I’m definitely comfortable with that.”

For the record, both Shawn Springs and Carlos Rogers are also on record as being pleased with the addition of Hall. All four guys seem to believe there’s plenty of playing time and opportunities for each of them and look forward to having talented peers alongside each other to help push the unit to a higher level. While it wasn’t great news for Leigh Torrence, everyone else in town should be pleased with what very well might be the deepest secondary in football.

And speaking of Hall’s local roots, the Redskins are currently offering a free Virginia Tech hoodie with the purchase of a DeAngelo Hall jersey. This will most likely go much smoother than the time the ‘Skins offered free Army recruitment with the purchase of a Robert McCune jersey.