Max Hall

Max Hall (born October 1, 1985) is an American former professional football player who was a quarterback in the National Football League (NFL) and Canadian Football League (CFL). After playing college football for the BYU Cougars, he was signed by the Arizona Cardinals as an undrafted free agent in 2010. Hall played in a total of six NFL games for the Cardinals. Hall spent 2012 as an assistant coach for BYU. He then played the 2013 CFL season for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers.

Early life

Hall went to the same high school as John Beck, the quarterback he succeeded at BYU. As a junior in 2003, he earned the starting quarterback job for the Mountain View High School Toros, and led the team to the Arizona state championship (14–0), earning MVP and offensive player of the year. As a senior in 2004 he led his team to another state title game only to lose the game in triple overtime (an Arizona 5A state record). He broke several Toro career passing records just two years after Beck had broken them. Hall was named the All-Arizona quarterback for his senior year by ''The Arizona Republic''.

College career

Hall redshirted at Arizona State in 2004. In 2006, after being sent home early from his LDS mission to Iowa, Hall transferred to BYU and quarterbacked the scout team while sitting out the season.

In 2007, John Beck's departure from BYU left a wide open competition for the starting quarterback position. Cade Cooper, a junior college transfer from Snow College, and Brenden Gaskins, a junior college transfer from Glendale Community College, joined Hall and Jacob Bower to compete for the position. Bower transferred to Bakersfield College soon after, and the competition came down to Hall and Cooper. Cooper suffered a season-ending injury in the annual Spring game. BYU head coach Bronco Mendenhall immediately named Hall as the starting quarterback and Gaskins as the backup for the 2007 season.

Hall was named first-team All-Mountain West Conference as a sophomore after throwing for 3,848 yards, 26 touchdowns, and only 12 interceptions. His 137.7 rating was the 21st best in BYU history, and the fifth best by a sophomore. His 3,848 yards ranked 8th in the NCAA and his 26 touchdown throws tied Hall for 22nd in the NCAA. His record in his first season as BYU starting quarterback was 11–2, with a Pioneer Las Vegas Bowl victory over UCLA.

On November 22, 2008, Hall was intercepted five times and lost one fumble, contributing to a 24–48 loss to the University of Utah. After the game, he proclaimed that Utah didn't beat BYU but that BYU beat themselves. On September 5, 2009, Hall led his team to a win over then third-ranked Oklahoma, throwing for 328 yards and two touchdowns in a 14–13 victory. This performance garnered the Cougars a No. 9 ranking in the following AP poll. However, BYU was then beaten by Florida State and TCU at home.

On December 1, 2009, Hall was named to the Mountain West Conference football All-Conference Second-team. On December 22, 2009, Hall led his team to a 44–20 win over 18th-ranked Oregon State, completing 19 out of 30 passes for 192 yards and three touchdowns to end his senior season.

College statistics

Professional career

Arizona Cardinals

After not being selected in the 2010 NFL draft, Hall signed as an undrafted free agent with the Arizona Cardinals. In the preseason, Hall competed with John Skelton, another rookie and a 5th round selection from Fordham, for the third-string quarterback spot behind veterans Derek Anderson and Matt Leinart. On September 4, the Cardinals released Leinart and told Hall that he would be the primary backup quarterback behind Anderson for 2010.

While playing the Atlanta Falcons on September 19, 2010, Hall relieved Anderson, throwing two passes for three yards and one interception. In an October 3 game against the San Diego Chargers, Anderson threw two interceptions and was taken out in favor of Hall. Hall completed 8 of his 14 passes for 82 yards.

On October 10, Hall was named the starting quarterback for the Cardinals, and won the first NFL game he started, against the defending Super Bowl champion New Orleans Saints. He completed 17 of his 27 passes and passed for 168 yards and 0 touchdowns. He also threw 1 interception and fumbled twice. The Cardinals won the game 30–20. After this performance, Hall was named the Pepsi Rookie of the Week for Week 5.

On October 31, Hall threw his only career touchdown pass as an NFL quarterback against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The score came off of a 3-yard pass to Larry Fitzgerald in the first quarter. Hall would be pulled in the second quarter though in favor of Derek Anderson. Hall would complete 8 of 16 passes passing for 71 yards with two interceptions.

Hall was waived/injured on August 24, 2011, and was reverted to injured reserve after passing through waivers unclaimed on August 25.
After being released by the Cardinals, Hall did not play professional football throughout the remainder of 2012.

Winnipeg Blue Bombers

On April 8, 2013, the Winnipeg Blue Bombers of the Canadian Football League announced they signed Hall for the 2013 season. Hall made his first CFL start on August 16, 2013 (Week 8) against the Hamilton Tiger-Cats. Hall got the start because of 'poor' play by both Buck Pierce and Justin Goltz. He completed 18 of 30 passing attempts for 241 yards with 1 touchdown and 2 interceptions. Hall went on to post a 1–8 record as a starter.

NFL career statistics

Coaching career

Hall served as a student assistant coach for BYU in 2012. He currently serves as the varsity offensive coordinator at American Leadership Academy High School in Queen Creek, Arizona.

Personal life

Hall is a nephew to Danny White and grandson of Wilford White, ASU Hall-of-Famers. He is a second cousin to former Baltimore Ravens tight end Todd Heap. Hall is married to Mckinzi Gissel, making him the brother-in-law-by-marriage of his BYU teammate and former Ravens' tight end, Dennis Pitta, who is married to Gissel's sister Mataya. He is a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

On August 30, 2014, Gilbert police were called to the Best Buy near Loop 202 and Williams Field Road about 11:30 a.m. after a store employee told police he saw Hall taking merchandise out of boxes and stuffing them in his backpack, according to the police report. Police found $286 worth of electronics inside Hall's backpack. Investigators also confiscated hypodermic needles, a metal spoon, a lighter and cocaine, stored in a pill bottle. Hall told police he had used the cocaine that morning. Hall immediately apologized to police and begged for forgiveness from the store's employees. He is quoted as saying, "I'm really sorry, I'll pay for the stuff. If I get arrested, I'll get fired. I've never done this before." On September 5, 2014, Hall was fired from his job as an offensive coordinator at Gilbert High School.

Max sustained several concussions in his NFL career, as well as other injuries, which lead to an addiction to Analgesic. He attributes the 2014 incident at Best Buy to be his rock bottom, and has been clean since the incident. As of April 2022, Hall was coaching varsity football for American Leadership Academy in Queen Creek, Arizona.

See also

* List of Division I FBS passing yardage leaders

References

External links

BYU Cougars football bioRivals.com bio

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hall, Max
1985 births
Living people
Latter Day Saints from Arizona
Players of American football from Mesa, Arizona
Players of Canadian football from Arizona
American football quarterbacks
Canadian football quarterbacks
Arizona State Sun Devils football players
BYU Cougars football players
Arizona Cardinals players
Winnipeg Blue Bombers players
BYU Cougars football coaches
Coaches of American football from Arizona