De’von Hall’s NFL career consisted of just four games with the Colts, and scattered appearances on other teams’ practice squads. But while Hall’s name isn’t known to most NFL fans, his story is now getting a great deal of attention. And it’s a disturbing story.
The Los Angeles Times ran a long feature today about Hall’s descent into mental illness, which culminated in the death of Hall’s mother, for which he has been charged with murder. The story says that some of Hall’s college teammates feared he would snap and kill someone, though they thought it would be a stranger, not his mother.
The family blames the NFL.
“The NFL, in my opinion, should’ve done a better job in making sure they took care of this kid,” his mother’s brother Tony Benson said.
Hall is being held on $1 million bail and is refusing to see visitors. Some of his family members think he is so lost to mental illness that he doesn’t even realize his mother is dead. His public defender argues that he is not competent to stand trial.
