Mike McGarry
Dino Hall overcame a lack of size to play in the NFL.
Now, he stands atop a mythical Cape-Atlantic League mountain.
A Pleasantville native and Port Republic resident, the 5-foot-7 Hall, who played in the NFL at 165 pounds, excelled at football, wrestling and baseball at Pleasantville High School. He set baseball and football records at Glassboro State (now Rowan University) that still stand today. Hall played running back for five years in the NFL with the Cleveland Browns and became one of the league's top kickoff and punt returners.
Hall won this month’s Press of Atlantic City reader vote to claim the fourth and final spot on the CAL Mount Rushmore of outstanding athletes.
“You get older and things really mean a lot more to you,” Hall said this week. “This is a great honor for me. I never been one to say, ‘I did this and I did that.’ But it feels really good to have someone honor you like this.”
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Hall, who will turn 70 in December, never had to stop proving himself. His size caused others to question his ability to succeed in high school, college and the NFL.
“I never felt 5-7 until I got older and started standing alongside some of the guys I played with,” Hall said. “And then I was like, ‘You were pretty damn small.’”
By now everyone should be familiar with the Mount Rushmore debate: Pick a category and then select the four most talented, influential and accomplished people in that group.
By CAL, we mean every school that has ever been a member.
By accomplished, we mean everything the athlete achieved. It’s not just while they were in high school. It also includes the college or professional level. It’s the total package.
There we three automatic selections — current Los Angeles Angels star Mike Trout of Millville, the late basketball standout Chris Ford of Holy Spirit, and pioneering women’s college basketball coach Cathy Rush of Oakcrest.
Who belongs on the Cape-Atlantic League Mount Rushmore?
Summer is here.
The Press nominated 20 athletes for the final spot, including basketball greats Lou Roe of Atlantic City and Monica Johnson of Wildwood and current NFL running back Isiah Pacheco of Vineland, for the final spot.
The readers with good reason chose Hall. He graduated from Pleasantville in 1974 and from Glassboro State in 1979. He played with the Browns from 1979-1983. More than 50 years later, it’s easy to forget what Hall achieved.
Hall only played baseball his first two years at Glassboro. In 1978, he batted leadoff for the Glassboro baseball team that won the NCAA Division III national championship. A speedy outfielder, he set school stolen base records.
He went back to football as a junior and in the fall of 1978 was named the ECAC Small College Player of the Year, rushing for a still-school-record 255 yards against William Patterson.
“I noticed something different my last year at Glassboro,” Hall said. “I had a different gear. Everyday dreams they can play in the NFL, but I really thought I could.”
Despite the success, Hall was not drafted by an NFL team. The Browns offered him a tryout. Cleveland’s assistant general manager, Dennis Lynch, was a Glassboro graduate.
Hall wowed Browns fans in his NFL debut, returning nine kickoffs for 172 yards and two punts for 58 yards in a 51-35 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers on Oct. 7, 1979.
Hall played with the Browns during one of the more exciting stretches in the team’s history. The colorful Sam Rutigliano was the coach, and Brian Sipe played quarterback.
The team made the playoffs in 1980 and 1982. Hall’s name is prominent in Browns history. He still ranks fifth in team punt returns (192), second in kickoff returns (151) and second in kickoff return yards (3,185). Doug Dieken, a former Brown offensive lineman and the team’s longtime color radio analyst, called Hall one of the toughest guys he ever played with.
Hall is still close with several of his Browns teammates.
“It was a lot of fun back then,” he said. “It really was. I always hung around with the offensive lineman. Being a running back, I thought it was the smartest thing to do.”
Each summer during Hall’s Browns tenure, Cleveland would bring in a running back to take his spot. Hall fought them off until Earnest Byner, one of the top backs in Cleveland history, took his spot in 1984.
Hall finished his pro football career with a year with the USFL’s Portland Breakers. After football, he returned to Pleasantville to become a physical education teacher. He lives in Port Republic with his wife, Renee.
One of the prime rules of journalism is never argue with the readers. It’s easy to see why they voted for Hall.
Hall, Ford, Rush and Trout.
Sounds right to me.
X @ACPressMcGarry
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