Great story on Ken Hall (Sugarland Express)

[DaHop72]

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15222039/

[Phil C]

I have heard that Coach Bryant who was one of the greatest coaches of all time said that one regret he had was the way he mishandled the Hall situation while at Texas A&M.

[g$$]

Correct. Bear later said he mishandled the situation w/ Ken Hall & that Hall was the most talented player he ever coached. And that is saying a lot (Namath, Stabler, Hannah, etc.).

[Bull's-eye]

One little note, those 520 yards on 11 carries all happened in the first half. Actually, Hall was on the bench for 2-1/2 quarters.

Hall's dad was the local constable. He was a mountain of a man that had no trouble upholding the law in Sugar Land.

[Phil C]

Originally posted by g$$
Correct. Bear later said he mishandled the situation w/ Ken Hall & that Hall was the most talented player he ever coached. And that is saying a lot (Namath, Stabler, Hannah, etc.).

Hey Bull if Coach Bryant had handled it right can you imagine the great field the Aggies would have had with John David Crow and Ken Hall in the same backfield. As it was the Aggies did great but perhaps could have been even better and beat that Houston team that tied them in 1956.

[g$$]

I have read quotes from Hall where he takes some of the blame too. Said he was immature & needed to grow up. I guess both regretted it. That would have been a backfield for the ages.

Ken Hall is a Texas legend. I hope his records last forever!

[Bull's-eye]

Originally posted by Phil C
Hey Bull if Coach Bryant had handled it right can you imagine the great field the Aggies would have had with John David Crow and Ken Hall in the same backfield. As it was the Aggies did great but perhaps could have been even better and beat that Houston team that tied them in 1956.

I believe I read where Crow stated that Hall was much better than him and if Hall had played, he (Crow) would of never won the Heisman.

Back in those days, players went both ways and stayed on the field. Hall was a RB/DB in high school, but Bryant made him a FB/LB. Hall wasn't much of a tackler and didn't like playing LB.

[Bull's-eye]

One game, Hall touched the ball only 9 times and the team scored every time. Hall rarely played in the second half of most games. Hall had world class speed. During his sophomore year of college, Hall competed in the famous Century of the Century race in Dallas. That day Bobby Morrow ran a world-record 9.2 in the 100-yard dash. Hall placed sixth in 9.4.

[mrescape43]

I would like to have seen him run in his prime. Must have been awesome.

[Phil C]

Originally posted by Bull's-eye
I believe I read where Crow stated that Hall was much better than him and if Hall had played, he (Crow) would of never won the Heisman.

Back in those days, players went both ways and stayed on the field. Hall was a RB/DB in high school, but Bryant made him a FB/LB. Hall wasn't much of a tackler and didn't like playing LB.

I overlooked also the 1957 season when Hall would have been a senior. The Aggies had a great backfield but with Hall as a senior in his prime they would have been even more awesome. That year the Aggies were highly ranked and won all their games until the last three where they lost to Rice 6 - 7, UT 7 - 9 and the Gator Bowl to Tennessee 0 - 3.
One wonders with Hall playing that they would probably have been able to get enough points to beat Rice and UT. Then they would have played in the Cotton Bowl against Syracuse (who lost that game to TCU 28 to 27. The Aggies had beat TCU 7 - 0 that year) so they might have gone 11 - 0 and maybe won the National Championship.