Joe L. Hall Jr. is in his first year as a guidance counselor at Topeka West High School. Hall is originally from Compton, California where he was a three-sport All-American high school athlete. He played football at a community college in California and was named California Player of the Year. He then earned a scholarship to Kansas State University in 1999. After completing his collegiate playing career at K-State, he entered the National Football League with the St. Louis Rams. He played five years in the NFL with the Rams, the Kansas City Chiefs and the Oakland Raiders. When his professional football career was over, he and his wife and four children moved back to Manhattan where they have lived for the past seven years.
“I share my story with students, but I tend to share more about my childhood in Compton than I do my life
at any other point. I think the relational piece goes a long way for most
students. The fact that I have personally experienced similar issues that they
may be having, adds a level of connection that I value greatly. A lot of the
students that I’ve had the opportunity to share my story with ask me more about
the fun times, which I am a little more apprehensive to share. Not because I
have anything to hide, but because there’s a tendency for young people to see
the fun in everything and not realize how difficult it is to achieve that
status. I try to give them both sides of the coin to help them regardless of
what route they choose to go in life. The beautiful thing about athletics and
competition is that many of the skills you learn can be used in almost every
realm of life. To me, that’s far more important than stories about partying and
how much money I made.”
“Most of the students at least attempt to
pacify me and take heed to what I am trying to teach them about making the most
of the opportunities they have. From personal experience, I’m sure for some it
goes from one ear out the other. The cool part about that is eventually my
comments to them will be something they can reference when it comes up in five,
10 or 20 years from now."
“Students have the reaction of shock when they
find out I played professional football. Some of the students start talking to
me about how big I am and then they say, ‘You should have played football.’ I
usually make some vague statement in response and just laugh it off. Then
there’s either another student or an adult that makes sure that they know that
I in fact was at one time a football player. I mean it has been more than 10
years since I last played.”
“I place the most emphasis on the fact I went
back to college after football was over. I let them know I wasn’t the most
motivated student and how I managed to turn it around and what I lost by having
to make the effort and use the time to turn it around. I am not afraid to
address my shortcomings. The goal is that the next generations benefit from
what we’ve learned by coming before them. It would be a terrible injustice to
pretend that I have it all figured out and have always been about pushing myself
towards academic achievement.”
“I think they appreciate my
honesty. One kid I spoke to told me that if he ended up going to a community
college that he would dedicate himself to his studies more than he had thus
far. For me, the ability to dream, have hope and focus on goal setting is where
I wish that my story motivates the students.”
“I want students to make the
most of their time. Time is the greatest commodity that we possess. We all get
old if we are lucky. Looking back and wishing you would have done better, is
for older people like me. The place that they are in their lives allows them to
make the changes they need to be successful and to ensure that they don’t have
to regret anything. These students are right in the middle of writing the pages
to their book. It can be as great or tragic a story as they want it to be.”
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