Former BYU quarterback Max Hall opened up nearly a year ago when he was arrested for shoplifting, drug possession and his addiction to pain killers.
“I found myself in a situation that was pretty tough and embarrassing,” Hall told Fox 10 Phoenix in an interview. “It was hard to deal with it. It was hard to go through that. But at the same time, it was a blessing in disguise because now my secret is out. I don’t have to keep it anymore and I can finally go get the help I need.”
Hall was arrested on Aug. 30, 2014, at a Best Buy store in Gilbert, Arizona, and had a backpack full of stolen items and a personal amount of cocaine in his possession, according to the police report.
Hall begins the interview discussing how he got addicted to pain killers during his rookie season with the Arizona Cardinals in which Hall suffered multiple concussions and also a lingering shoulder injury.
His first concussion came in in his first start for the Cardinals when they faced the New Orleans Saints as he was hit hard on a goal-line run and lost his helmet. However, during concussion protocol Hall admitted lying to pass the process for fear he would lose his starting job.
“Looking back, that was a huge mistake,” Hall said in his interview with Fox 10. “That was the first of a few concussions to happen.”
After Hall got arrested he shut out the world and turned off his cell phone for the next three days. When he turned the phone back on he got more support than he thought from former players and professors at BYU.
“Some of the biggest people that did that was my quarterback coach at BYU Brandon Doman, Chad Lewis and a professor I had at BYU, Doug Witt. I remember I turned my phone off for a couple of days because of just of the craziness,” Hall said. “When I turned it back on, those three guys were on the phone. So I called them back and they had gotten together and figured out a place for me to go up there in Utah. Really, they just huddled around me.”
