My Plea to Max Hall

Max Hall is the winningest quarterback in BYU history. So what. That is what I have to say about that. Never has a player had such great numbers yet inspired less confidence in his fans. When the public address announcer gave the congratulations over the loudspeaker after the game yesterday in which he set the record, there were actually quite a few boos, none of which came from me oddly enough. I didn’t need to. I think people finally understand who he is.

Hall is the kid you loved having on your team during practice or maybe even a scrimmage game, but when the pressure was on, you wouldn’t have chosen him until it was absolutely necessary. He can hit the open jumper, paint both sides of the plate, or haul in the long touchdown pass, but only if the game is already won, or doesn’t mean anything to begin with.

We have now seen Max for almost 3 full seasons. That is plenty enough to know that when we play Air Force, he will look like Joe Montana. Same goes for UNLV, New Mexico, Underbudget University, or any other number of mediocre to crappy teams. However, when he sees Utah, TCU, or any ranked or semi decent opponent coming through the tunnel, he folds faster than a 9 year old Asian working in a Nike sweatshop. His one redeeming moment, the final drive against Oklahoma, is the only notable exception. History has shown that to be the anomaly, the one outlier in a career all pointing to the same fact: Max Hall sucks in big games.

Would I take Hall over any of the other BYU greats? Not McMahon, Young, Bosco, Detmer, or Beck. I’d even rather have John Walsh or Brandon Doman.

Prove me wrong, Max. Beat Utah this week and look good doing it. You will have your home crowd behind you. You get to face a Utah team weakened by the draft and graduation. You are a senior, and should know everything they will throw at you. There is no excuse for you to fail. And make no mistake about it: We lost last year’s game because Max Hall failed. He was the difference in the game. Despite Utah’s undefeated record, we were fairly equal last year except for at quarterback. Brian Johnson was good, and Max Hall crapped the bed. Plain and simple.

Prove me wrong, Max. Show me that 3 years of statistics are wrong. Show me that you deserve the record you now hold. Give me a reason not to leave a flaming bag of crap on your doorstep following the final regular season game of your career. I am more than willing to let your mediocre career slide if you can do what you have been unable to do since you arrived in Provo. Just play well in a big game, Max. Just one. You can even revert back to your normal form in the bowl game. Just play well against Utah.

Because if you think I’m joking about the bag of crap, just try me.