Linebacker Terez Hall grew up a New England Patriots fan, which made his journey to the NFL even more surreal. During the pre-draft process, the undrafted free agent interviewed with the team he’d rooted for so heartily and studied so carefully as a fan.
“You know, it was funny sometimes, but it was serious most of the time,” Hall told reporters on Tuesday. “Like, coming here, when I grew up, this was my favorite team whatever, so, my biggest deal is, I’m looking at all the coaches . . . I knew everyone on the coaching staff. Like I knew them like, when they were players.”
And then he landed on a team where Jerod Mayo was coaching linebackers. In 2020, Mayo coaches Hall and the rest of the inside linebackers.
Surely, Hall is working with his childhood idol, right? Was Mayo Hall’s favorite player as a kid?
“It wasn’t Coach Mayo. I felt like . . . it wasn’t Coach Mayo. It was Jamie Collins, man. Jamie Collins was my favorite player,” Hall said. “Just in general. I got an opportunity to play with him last year, and he solidified everything I thought. If you go back and look at 2015 . . . when I was in high school. You’ll see, I’ve got pictures of Jamie Collins I have tweeted out when I was younger. It’s just so crazy I got an opportunity to play with him.”
Hall certainly missed an opportunity to get brownie points with his boss — and if he doesn’t play much in Week 15, we’ll know why.
In all seriousness, Hall is an undersized linebacker at 6-foot-2, 235 pounds, which is likely why he didn’t get drafted in 2019. But he spent a season on the Patriots’ practice squad, where he relayed plays for the scout team defense. In 2020, he’s gotten a promotion, with so much turnover at linebacker for New England. The Patriots saw Collins and Kyle Van Noy leave in free agency, and Dont’a Hightower opted out of 2020 due to the pandemic. Hall was thrust into an increased role — especially after Ja’Whaun Bentley suffered and injury — with 18 tackles on the season.
“I try to add something to it,” Hall said. “I try to add energy when I’m out on the field, getting guys fired up on the sideline to go take the field before we go on defense. Just something that motivates me to bring something towards the team.”
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