Former San Diego Chargers center and Rice star Courtney Hall has died at the age of 52, the team announced on Friday. And the Chargers mourned the loss of their five-time captain, who served as team captain for the only Charger Super Bowl team, when the 1994 team reached the finale, only to fall to a dominant San Francisco 49er squad.
"He will be greatly missed," former Chargers head coach Bobby Ross said, per Chargers.com. "Courtney was one of the finest players and person I have ever had the opportunity to work with. As a player he was one of the best at his position; he was an excellent blocker because of his quickness and as a center calling our line schemes. He never made a mistake in five years. He was very bright and prepared.
"Courtney was a silent leader who led more by example than by word. He always came ready to work and he always came ready to play. My thoughts and prayers go out to his family. God Bless Courtney and all his family."
Per The San Diego Union-Tribune, Hall was the youngest player in the NFL when the Chargers took him at No. 37 overall, in the second round of the 1989 NFL Draft. And while some teams were dissuaded from picking him because of his less-than-ideal size for the position — Hall was listed 6-foot-2 and 281 pounds — he became an important part of the Chargers’ success and was named a four-time Pro Bowl first alternate.
"We're incredibly saddened by news of Courtney's passing," said Owner and Chairman of the Board Dean Spanos. "Courtney was a natural born leader. Wherever he went, people followed - through the holes he opened on the offensive line, in the locker room as a team captain on our 1994 Super Bowl team and throughout his post-football career as a J.D.-MBA managing a venture capital firm.
"His detractors thought he was too small for the position coming out of college, but it turned out that his intelligence, hunger and toughness were what actually would set him apart from his peers," Spanos said. "With four Pro Bowl selections in eight seasons, plain and simple, he was one of the best to ever wear the lightning bolt. Courtney had so much more life to live and his been taken from us far too soon.
"Our hearts and deepest condolences are with his wife, LaShann DeArcy, and the entire Hall family during this difficult time."
Former Chargers director of player personnel Billy Devaney told the Union-Tribune in February 2020 that Hall, "was the perfect center," telling the newspaper that Hall was unflappable, "incredibly tough" and "incredibly smart."
The Texas Sports Hall of Fame picked Hall to join the Southwest Conference Hall of Fame in 2019.