Rice Memories: Courtney Hall
5/2/2020 3:27:00 PM | Football, Blog
"I always had the mindset that I was the best one out there."
Courtney Hall came to Rice at the improbably young age of 16 to play football. However, from the moment he battled his way through his first wave of legendary Houston humidity, he took in all that Rice offered. A combination of confidence and curiosity nurtured his obvious physical talents to become a second round pick in the NFL Draft and start in a Super Bowl and his thirst for knowledge to reach even loftier professional heights post-football.
Looking back, what are your first memories of Rice?
"My first memories of Rice were stepping off the plane, and you know that little space between the plane and when you step on to the walkway to the terminal—I started pouring sweat. In that little space where I went from the cool temperatures of the cabin to hitting the climate of Houston, I exploded into sweat and that had never happened to me before. I wondered if something was wrong with the temperature controls, but it was just the moment where I learned that Houston in August is something special.
It was a great recruiting class we had that year, we had Will McClay who I like to say is the highest-ranking person in the (Dallas) Cowboys not named Jones. He and I were kind of the top offensive and defensive recruits and we both wound up starting that year as freshmen.
It would have been overwhelming to start your college career as a 17-year old offensive lineman, but to do it against Miami must have made it even more so?
I was trained to be the best and I always had the mindset that I was the best one out there. Even when I might get beat on a play, I felt like I was still going to beat him nine times out of 10. One thing I expressed to Coach Bloomgren in a text after his first win was that winning means you win at everything. I learned that from my high school coach (Chris Ferragamo). I'm going to be the first one on the field; I'm going to be the first one washing my clothes, sharpening my pencil. That was my mindset when I played in high school at Banning. I played with some great players there, some who went on to the pros, some who didn't but were great college players. Jamelle Holieway, who was probably the greatest option quarterback in history, was our quarterback. The point is that the mindset I had allowed a 225-pound freshman center to line up against Miami and believe I was the best center on the field. I'm going to beat this guy every play. If he wins a play, my mind will re-set and I'll beat him on the next one. I don't think I really grasped the significance of that game until I was in the pros and some of those guys from Miami I played against, brought it up. Go back and look at the names on that team: Michael Irvin, Vinny Testaverde, Alonzo Highsmith on offense and Jerome Brown and Kevin Fagan on the defensive line. We played them close for the first half and then talent took over. I've probably mellowed out some now, but I still go into something expecting to win and will do everything legal and above board to win.
Here's something about that game that only my teammates have probably ever known. I turned 17 just a few days before the game and had earned the starting position at center during camp (no summer school or summer programs at that time). The Saturday before the first game (a night when Miami opened its season with a 35-23 loss to Florida) the freshmen on the team had a, let's call it an extracurricular activity. We had to do a bunch of crazy stuff at the stadium and the last part was to run over to (Brown) College, which at the time was all female. Like the dumb stupid freshmen that we were, we started yelling for the them to throw down articles of clothing. I jumped up to catch something that was thrown down and landed wrong on my ankle. It was a bad sprain. Everyone was freaking out, because here I was, just named as the starter and my ankle is swelling up the size of a grapefruit. They called the trainers and they taped me up. We didn't say anything else about it and I started the game. I don't think my ankle was right the entire year.
What sticks in your memory about Rice apart from athletics?
I guess for me it has always been the people. I was very quiet and reserved off the field. There was a kindness and acceptance of who I was and I was appreciated for who I was. It's one of the reasons I have been a proponent of Rice and started a scholarship, served on the alumni board, was a designee to the Board of Trustees and have donated to the Shepherd School and the Baker Policy Institute among other things. (The culture) understands the students and student-athletes as individuals and appreciates them for who they are. They take them as they present themselves to be.
Your career path has taken you to the NFL and then an MBA and on to New York (where he serves as managing partner for Hillcrest Venture Partners). While New York is never really out of the news, talk about living in the city during the COVID-19 crisis.
I'll say this--having been in New York now for 18 years--they say some events can change people and change cities, but New York is New York. Nothing will change the personality of New York and of New Yorkers. They are a very resilient people. I remember there was a time when a basketball coach would say they would never recruit kids from New York because they wouldn't fit into a system. That's the New York attitude…give me the ball, I'm going to win. To make it growing up in New York, you have to maintain that confidence in every situation. That's really the way you should live your life. You wake up the next day and say you are going to go out and attack life with the same vigor and enthusiasm as the last one. I have four kids, three of them now adults and the baby of the family who is currently in middle school. My wife is a Federal Judge here in New York. My wife tells me that once I hit 25 years I can become an honorary New Yorker, so I'm getting close. I miss Texas and I miss real barbeque, I miss the relationships I made when I was there. I appreciate the people who work there and continue to provide the kind of opportunities that were there for me. I formed some strong bonds there and I appreciate them to this day.
Looking back, what are your first memories of Rice?
"My first memories of Rice were stepping off the plane, and you know that little space between the plane and when you step on to the walkway to the terminal—I started pouring sweat. In that little space where I went from the cool temperatures of the cabin to hitting the climate of Houston, I exploded into sweat and that had never happened to me before. I wondered if something was wrong with the temperature controls, but it was just the moment where I learned that Houston in August is something special.
It was a great recruiting class we had that year, we had Will McClay who I like to say is the highest-ranking person in the (Dallas) Cowboys not named Jones. He and I were kind of the top offensive and defensive recruits and we both wound up starting that year as freshmen.
It would have been overwhelming to start your college career as a 17-year old offensive lineman, but to do it against Miami must have made it even more so?
I was trained to be the best and I always had the mindset that I was the best one out there. Even when I might get beat on a play, I felt like I was still going to beat him nine times out of 10. One thing I expressed to Coach Bloomgren in a text after his first win was that winning means you win at everything. I learned that from my high school coach (Chris Ferragamo). I'm going to be the first one on the field; I'm going to be the first one washing my clothes, sharpening my pencil. That was my mindset when I played in high school at Banning. I played with some great players there, some who went on to the pros, some who didn't but were great college players. Jamelle Holieway, who was probably the greatest option quarterback in history, was our quarterback. The point is that the mindset I had allowed a 225-pound freshman center to line up against Miami and believe I was the best center on the field. I'm going to beat this guy every play. If he wins a play, my mind will re-set and I'll beat him on the next one. I don't think I really grasped the significance of that game until I was in the pros and some of those guys from Miami I played against, brought it up. Go back and look at the names on that team: Michael Irvin, Vinny Testaverde, Alonzo Highsmith on offense and Jerome Brown and Kevin Fagan on the defensive line. We played them close for the first half and then talent took over. I've probably mellowed out some now, but I still go into something expecting to win and will do everything legal and above board to win.
Here's something about that game that only my teammates have probably ever known. I turned 17 just a few days before the game and had earned the starting position at center during camp (no summer school or summer programs at that time). The Saturday before the first game (a night when Miami opened its season with a 35-23 loss to Florida) the freshmen on the team had a, let's call it an extracurricular activity. We had to do a bunch of crazy stuff at the stadium and the last part was to run over to (Brown) College, which at the time was all female. Like the dumb stupid freshmen that we were, we started yelling for the them to throw down articles of clothing. I jumped up to catch something that was thrown down and landed wrong on my ankle. It was a bad sprain. Everyone was freaking out, because here I was, just named as the starter and my ankle is swelling up the size of a grapefruit. They called the trainers and they taped me up. We didn't say anything else about it and I started the game. I don't think my ankle was right the entire year.
What sticks in your memory about Rice apart from athletics?
I guess for me it has always been the people. I was very quiet and reserved off the field. There was a kindness and acceptance of who I was and I was appreciated for who I was. It's one of the reasons I have been a proponent of Rice and started a scholarship, served on the alumni board, was a designee to the Board of Trustees and have donated to the Shepherd School and the Baker Policy Institute among other things. (The culture) understands the students and student-athletes as individuals and appreciates them for who they are. They take them as they present themselves to be.
Your career path has taken you to the NFL and then an MBA and on to New York (where he serves as managing partner for Hillcrest Venture Partners). While New York is never really out of the news, talk about living in the city during the COVID-19 crisis.
I'll say this--having been in New York now for 18 years--they say some events can change people and change cities, but New York is New York. Nothing will change the personality of New York and of New Yorkers. They are a very resilient people. I remember there was a time when a basketball coach would say they would never recruit kids from New York because they wouldn't fit into a system. That's the New York attitude…give me the ball, I'm going to win. To make it growing up in New York, you have to maintain that confidence in every situation. That's really the way you should live your life. You wake up the next day and say you are going to go out and attack life with the same vigor and enthusiasm as the last one. I have four kids, three of them now adults and the baby of the family who is currently in middle school. My wife is a Federal Judge here in New York. My wife tells me that once I hit 25 years I can become an honorary New Yorker, so I'm getting close. I miss Texas and I miss real barbeque, I miss the relationships I made when I was there. I appreciate the people who work there and continue to provide the kind of opportunities that were there for me. I formed some strong bonds there and I appreciate them to this day.
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