When safety Deiondre' Hall last stepped foot on Lincoln Financial Field, he watched from the visiting sideline as the Eagles' defensive backs did the Electric Slide and finished off a dominant 31-3 victory over his Chicago Bears.
Safety Corey Graham had just picked off Bears quarterback Mitchell Trubisky with less than two minutes to play in the game on November 26 and the Eagles began an elaborate, and eventually award-winning, celebration involving the defense. It's something that has always left a bad taste in Hall's mouth.
"The DBs were dancing on us. I'll never forget that," Hall said. "That's something that's always stuck with me personally. When you're going against another team and they get the best of you and start dancing like that, that's something that sticks with you."
Now, the script is flipped.
After a trade on September 1, one that was announced during Howie Roseman's press conference following the 53-man roster cutdown, Hall joined the Eagles' defensive backs and will look to create more dance-worthy moments going forward.
"I want to bring my personality to the room and play good ball," Hall said. "At the end of the day, that's all that matters, playing good ball and getting wins. I just want to bring as much personality and good play into the room. ... When you make a play, go pick up the guy next to you and you have fun with it. And that's what it's about from me."
Hall was traded right at the roster cutdown deadline just more than a week ago. He said he took a nap around the 3 p.m. CST deadline and woke up at 5:30 to 20 calls and texts telling him he had been traded for the first time in his three-year career. He said it was a whirlwind of a week.
"I don't think you ever really expect anything like that to happen," Hall said. "And again, it's been a blessing. Getting here, everyone is smiling, everyone has open arms, but you're here to compete. It's a little bit of a different culture but I'm ready to attack it."
Hall was suspended for Week 1 and therefore couldn't be with the team for the opener against the Falcons. He practiced with the Eagles for the first time on Monday and used last week to catch up to his new teammates.
"I paid as much attention as possible, getting in the playbook and getting the calls down," Hall said. "I couldn't go to practice, stuff like that. So, it was a fast week. It was a really fast week, especially with them playing on Thursday."
Hall's versatile play can add a lot to the Eagles' defensive backfield. In college at Northern Iowa, he played 51 games and finished with 242 tackles, 16 tackles for loss, 15 pass deflections, 13 interceptions (including four touchdowns), three sacks, and three forced fumbles. He also had 15 kickoff returns for 313 yards (20.9-yard average).
He sat out for most of last season with a hamstring injury but had seven tackles and an interception in his rookie year. He said he's excited to take the field, start flying around, and play with guys who he's seen achieve greatness.
"It was crazy, man, to just get in the building and you're just now learning names," Hall said. "You've seen these guys on TV or on film previous years and now you're kind of a part of that and to see those boys get out there and ball out how they were, having fun, I can't wait to get out there. It felt great to just practice and be out there with them today."
But most of all, Hall said he couldn't wait to play in front of Eagles fans. After last season's game in Philadelphia and watching the regular-season opener on Thursday, he knows what these fans offer the defense.
"The energy out here is insane," Hall said. "Eagles fans are true die-hard fans out here and I learned that a little bit on Thursday as well. I mean, true die-hard fans and you can see that they love their team."
