Ex-Marine working to earn NFL roster spot with Titans

The assistant coach trying to correct a player?s mistake asked fullback Ahmard Hall what would happen if someone made the wrong move in his old job.

His answer? ??I might not be standing here today Coach,?? assistant Sherman Smith recalled Hall saying.

Death or severe injury, not a busted play, was the risk when Hall served six months in Afghanistan as a U.S. Marine. Now a 26-year-old NFL rookie, Hall is trying to win a job with the Tennessee Titans after choosing the Marines out of high school and then winning a national title with Texas.

Calling it an unusual path to the NFL is an understatement.

?I am happy to be here,? Hall said Tuesday morning. ?I feel like I can excel here, and I?ve just got to keep doing well and hopefully, I can stick here.?

Hall hasn?t done anything the easy way.

A top athlete in high school in Angleton, Texas, and a teammate of now San Diego cornerback Quentin Jammer, Hall didn?t work as hard on his academics. So he chose to follow a brother-in-law into the Marines in 1999.

?I could follow his example, strive to have the success that he had in the Marine Corps. I saw how it affected his life coming out of high school. I thought it could do the same for me,? Hall said.

So he went to basic training. His stint included a three-month tour in Kosovo during Sept. 11, 2001, followed by six months in Afghanistan with a switch from humanitarian work to battle.

?Basic patrols out on the front line so you?re always in harm?s way,? Hall said.

Stationed primarily at Camp Lejeune, N.C., Hall married a fellow Marine and worked his way to the rank of sergeant in charge of 75 men. Yet he never lost sight of football.

When his four-year tour ended in September 2002, he wasn?t sure he?d be able to muster out and head onto college at Texas because military officials wanted him to stay.

?But I had a goal in mind I wanted to accomplish. I didn?t want to deviate from that path,? Hall said. ?It was definitely scary getting out. It was a small time before I actually got onto the football team. I thought I was going to get called back.?

An associate?s degree earned while in the Marines and some extra help cleared up his high school academic problems. The GI Bill helped pay the tab, and he walked onto the Longhorns? football team.

That led to his favorite moment.

?Running out on that field playing in front of 83,000 people in Texas, a lot of them screaming for you and they all know your story by that time, so they?re screaming for you. That?s the best thing,? Hall said.

Coach Mack Brown told Hall, a tailback in high school, that fullback was his quickest way to the field. Hall added 10 pounds to his 5-foot-11 frame, and he played three seasons for Texas, appearing in 24 games with two starts. He had two carries for 11 yards and one touchdown and was put on scholarship his senior season.

Five NFL teams called, but Hall signed with the Titans on July 13 after the NFL?s supplemental draft. He chose the Titans because they only have Troy Fleming at fullback on the roster and his ex-Longhorns teammates Vince Young and tight end Bo Scaife already are here.

?Just knowing the situation he was in and all the things he?s been through, it?s just good to see him get the opportunity to play in the NFL and the pros,? Scaife said.

Hall credits Fleming, a sixth-round draft pick out of Tennessee in 2004, with helping him learn on the job since he missed all the team?s minicamps. Fleming had arthroscopic surgery on his left knee Monday and will be out at least 10 days.

The Titans like Hall?s physical style.

?That?s why we brought him into camp because he is physical,? coach Jeff Fisher said. ?He?s talented, and he?s athletic. He?s starting to get what we?re doing. What he has got to do is give his all to learn the system and package. He has got the capacity to learn, there is no doubt about that.?

For now, Hall, who turns 27 in November, keeps working. His wife remains in Austin, preparing to graduate from nursing school. He isn?t thinking ahead to what he might do if he earns a spot on the final roster on Sept. 2.

?If it would happen, it would be one of the greatest things ever,? Hall said.