Glenn Younes: The Bryan Hall Experiment
The business of football is at its pinnacle this week and next, former Ravens defender Bryan Hall is prime example. This is a job in the sports entertainment business. Period. Nothing guaranteed, except for the select few star players. For a guy like Bryan Hall everyday is an audition, everyday he has to prove himself, reinvent himself and even lose himself.
Hall, a defensive lineman, was mostly a special teams player who's low position on the team never showed in his demeanor. He was one of the nice guys in the business. A character with a big smile and even bigger personality. Despite not being a star, Hall was popular on the twitter-sphere, at autograph signings and charity events. He's just a good dude!
He even went Rocky IV on us in the offseason and shed 40-50 lbs to morph into a linebacker from a defensive lineman. The work ethic, weight loss, personality et al was not enough for him to land a full time job with the Ravens in 2013. It's the sad reality of football where nothing (for the most part) is guaranteed and no ones job is safe. It's not about being fair or doing favors; it's about money and winning, in that order most times.
Fans can tweet "SMH" or ponder why the "Ravens made Hall lose weight then cut him" all they want. It's just further example that even the fans who know even who Bryan Hall is still don't understand the business of sports and to that I SMH. Bryan Hall lost weight and attempted to switch positions in hopes he'd keep his job, it didn't work but no one made him do anything. Those were the choices he made to try to keep playing football.
The experiment is over in Baltimore, at least for now, but there are Bryan Hall's all over the NFL. That's the business they have chosen and it keeps pulling us back in.
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