When you need a touchdown in Week 17, you go to Chad Hall. For the second consecutive season, the diminutive wide receiver hit pay-dirt for the Eagles in the regular season finale and, for the second straight year, Hall chose to celebrate his achievement along with the Eagles faithful.
In the second quarter of the Eagles' eventual 34-10 victory over the Washington Redskins, the Eagles were only ahead 3-0. Facing a first-and-goal from the 7-yard-line with less than two minutes remaining in the first half, Michael Vick threw a quick-out to Hall, who caught the ball around the 3-yard-line. Upon the reception, Hall was met by Redskins cornerback DeAngelo Hall while Redskins linebacker Perry Riley ran over to assist on the would-be tackle. But Hall, the former Air Force standout, would not be denied, as he fought through the tackles and sprinted into the end zone.
"Before the play, I knew that corner was sitting and so Mike (Vick) kind of gave me a back-shoulder throw so I wouldn't get drilled," Hall said after the game. "And then I knew the hit was going to come right then and I kind of just slipped under. It was a good play and I'm just glad I could finish.
"Any time I get to be on this field on Sunday, I don't take it for granted. I know how quick it can go, so every opportunity I get I try to make the most of it and help this team win."
But Hall wasn't finished when he got into the end zone. Rather, he continued his sprint through the back of the end zone before leaping into the stands among the Eagles fans. Hall has scored two touchdowns as an Eagle; both have come in Week 17, and both have been celebrated with what Hall calls "the L.I.N.C. Leap."
"Well, I did it last year, so I knew how high it was," said Hall. "Last year, I didn't come close to making it and Owen (Schmitt) had to push me up. This year, I think I might have gotten up there on my own, but Jeremy (Maclin) pushed me the rest of the way."
"It was good," said Schmitt of Hall's leap. "He got up there all by himself this time. It was great to see him score."
That Hall's teammates were reveling in the 5-foot-8 receiver's score is another sign that this Eagles team has found their chemistry, albeit too late.
"Football's a team sport and you have to come together as a team and I really feel like we've done that now in the second half of the season," said tight end Brent Celek.
"I hope we bring as many as we can back," said Hall, "because we really clicked. We didn't have an off-season to have any team-building or anything like that and I think we clicked as a unit. I think that's important, to find out about each other and really get to know each other. I think that helped going on that four-game win streak towards the end."
For Schmitt, a free-agent-to-be, the end of the season comes with a cruel reminder of the nature of the business.
"It's awful," he said. "That's probably the one downfall to this whole business, you get close to a bunch of guys and then next year, if you're lucky it doesn't change, but if you're unlucky it changes."
