Sole man

By EASportsToday.com
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Updated: September 14, 2016

It’s gotta be the shoes: Weaver’s Hall making his presence felt in shiny gold cleats

Weaver fullback Tyrik Hall shows off the gold cleats he’s been playing in this season. Teammate Maurice Goodman’s Spider-Man cleats can be seen in the lower left corner.

By Al Muskewitz
East Alabama Sports Today

WEAVER — Tyrik Hall wanted to do something “to change it all up this year” going into his senior Weaver football season. So he did something drastic.

He changed his sole.

Hall will be the easiest player to spot in Friday’s Weaver-Ohatchee Class 3A top 10 showdown at Bill Bryan Stadium. He’ll be the one wearing the gold cleats.

“I knew it would be different; I knew I would stand out from everybody else,” he said. “I forget what coach it was, but I heard him say, ‘nobody wants to coach ordinary,’ so I felt that would be extraordinary to have gold cleats and not even have gold colors.”

Actually, getting the shoes was part of a pact that for some reason fell apart. Several Bearcats were going to go for the Under Armour superhero-themed cleats, but only Maurice Goodman followed through, picking up the red Spider-Man shoes he’s been wearing during games this season.

By the time the others passed on the deal, it was too late for Hall to change his mind. After “two long days of thinking on them,” he plunked down $127 (with discount) and took home a pair of size 11 Gold Rush cleats that are actually a half-size too small for him.

He broke them out right before the Bearcats took the field for their opener against Hayden and has played in them ever since. After the game, Bearcats coach Daryl Hamby’s wife Kathy pulled the fullback aside and said she had a new nickname for him — Gold Nugget.

Hall has been a solid runner, physical blocker and punishing defender for the Bearcats throughout his career. In last week’s break-through victory over Wellborn he cleared the way for several big runs by Paul Hubbard and Giovanni “White Shoes” Mosley, he ran 22 yards for a fourth-quarter touchdown that extended their lead to 20-6 and was in on several big defensive plays.

“They always told me if you look good, you play good, and I think those look good,” Hall said. “They make me feel like I play better.”

And that’s all that matters to the head coach. Hamby may be old school, but even he had to admit he didn’t see the gold shoes coming.

“They ask me all the time if they can wear this, wear that,” he said. “I’m pretty limited on what I can wear. He probably caught me at a moment when I said ‘I don’t care what you wear, Tyrik.’ That probably cost me right there. That probably was my fault and so here he comes up with these ‘Goldilocks.’

“We try to cut down on any individuality and I don’t think Tyrik was doing it to be an individual. He just liked them because he likes stuff like that. He’s far and away the most team-oriented guy we’ve got. The way he blocks and what he does and doesn’t complain, he is total team, there is no doubt about that.

“He’s playing pretty good, so if the gold shoes help him, well, that’s fine.”