Sometimes in the NFL, dynamite comes in a matchbox and the eye of a needle seems as wide as a hula hoop.
Take Dante Hall. He is 5-foot-8 and 187 pounds. In the mammoth NFL, he is barely a hiccup, barely a molehill. Hall, however, is turning heads and tangling feet. Defenders are falling all over themselves trying to catch him. He is a marked man now in Kansas City red. He is developing a knack of leaving his pursuers blue.
Hall returns kickoffs and punts for the Chiefs, and he does it in spectacular style. Ask Pittsburgh. He took a kickoff and darted 100 yards for a touchdown after the Steelers had built a 10-0 lead in Kansas City on Sunday. The Chiefs used Hall's fuel to rise and destroy Pittsburgh, 41-20.
For punctuation, Hall added a 45-yard punt return to the Pittsburgh 7-yard line that set up another Kansas City touchdown early in the third quarter.
He does it with jukes and speed and moves and courage, with desire and determination and flair. Last season, Hall touched the ball 117 times and averaged 18.1 yards a touch; he gained 2,120 net yards for the Chiefs, second only to running back Priest Holmes' 2,287.
Hall's stop-and-start, slide-and-glide, helter-skelter 49-yard touchdown reception at Denver last December was one of the most exciting plays of the season. He made the Pro Bowl.
The word is out on Dante Hall -- when he is in the game, do not blink.
"At the Pro Bowl, guys were coming up to me and saying some nice things about that play in Denver, guys like Donovan McNabb, asking me how did I do it," Hall said, referring to the Eagles' quarterback. "The Pro Bowl was nice. It gave me more confidence. Now I'm looking for this team to do great things. I want team success. It's all about the team."
It is all about guys like Holmes and Hall in Kansas City, a fast team, a high-scoring team, a bunch with a better defense. This gives the Chiefs high hopes. And Hall gives them a special dimension.
He had always returned kicks and punts, but his primary position at Texas A&M was running back. The Chiefs drafted him in the fifth round in 2000, the 153rd player selected, and Hall played in five games as a rookie, in 13 the next year and in all 16 last season. He played for the Scottish Claymores in NFL. Europe in 2001.
This is his fourth Chiefs season, but when Dick Vermeil took over as coach in 2001, Hall's spot on the roster was in jeopardy. Vermeil, though, began to see something special in Hall, and the feeling was mutual.
"I love this guy," Vermeil said after the Pittsburgh victory with tears in his eyes at the sheer mention of Hall. "It takes all 11 guys, but he's a special kind of sparkplug. He's an inspirational kid. He not only inspires his head coach but his teammates as well."
Since Vermeil showed faith in Hall, the responses have been 90-and 86-yard punt returns for touchdowns and 100- and 88-yard kickoff returns for touchdowns. Last year, Hall added touchdown catches of 60, 75 and 49 yards.
"I came out of college kind of with a bad rep for pouting," Hall said. "I had some issues to deal with. coach Vermeil is the first person to really listen and believe in me. He showed that he cared for me, behind closed doors and in public. I never really had a father; I wish he could adopt me. He has instilled a belief in me. He has helped me and my career come to life."
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