DeAngelo Hall seems to always be at the epicenter of a big play. Whether he’s sprinting down the sidelines of a packed Lane Stadium or collecting an NFL record tying four interceptions in one game, Hall has a knack for the heroics at any level. With DeAngelo being known for exhibiting great style, the 11-year veteran is planning to sport various customs cleats during the course of the 2014 NFL season. We recently caught up with the dynamic defensive back as he elaborated more on his desire to rock illustrious kicks both on the field and off of it.
Nice Kicks: We noticed through the help of your former teammate London Fletcher that you were able to grab a pair of customs cleats from dezcustoms. Can you tell our readers a bit more about how that process developed?
DeAngelo Hall: I’ve always been a cat who likes to have some of the flyest things on the field. When I saw Fletch I was like, “You’ve got to give me your connect.” So, we talked to Dez and he was able to dial up a pair of cleats. In fact, the ones I had on this past weekend against the Jaguars had everyone on their team saying, “I’ve got to get me a pair of those cleats.” Everybody is feelin’ it right now and it’s sort of the ‘it’ thing to do. They don’t make too many sweet football cleats, so we’ve got to get the standard pair and customize them ourselves.
Nice Kicks: We spoke with SolesBySir earlier this week, a Miami-based artist that is going to produce some customs for you. What do you have coming next in regard to custom cleats?
DeAngelo Hall: Being that they don’t offer that many options of cleats, I reached out to a couple of guys for some work. [For example] one of Patrick Peterson’s guys is out in Arizona, so I get cleats from all over. I’m just kind of waiting for them all to get back so that I can figure out what I’m going to wear, what feels the best on my feet and what looks the best. Then I’ll just go from there.
Nice Kicks: Does the NFL uniform policy make it tough to wear elaborate cleats every game?
DeAngelo Hall: Oh, absolutely man! [Laughs] It’s a $5,000 fine for the first offense and $10,000 the second offense, so it’s definitely a little ridiculous with the fines. The NFL is not quite like the NBA where you can be an individual. That’s kind of the brand of the NBA: everybody gets to go out there and be themselves. In the NFL, it’s a lot more strict than that. Since we’ve all got to fit into a box, we all try to do little things ourselves to put ourselves outside of that box.
Nice Kicks: How have your cleat choices changed since you first started in the NFL?
DeAngelo Hall: This is my 11th year and I remember being signed with Reebok. Early on, I wanted some custom kicks done and they were slow motion on it. I remember having a Monday Night Game and at the time I had Mike Vick on my team. Being very good friends with him, I had Nike dial me up a sweet pair of Vicks and I ended up putting them on for Monday Night Football. I ended up getting my Reebok contract pulled, but I was definitely clean out there.
Photos courtesy of Jon Wheeler
