Hall Hate: Why Fans and Media Hating on Max Hall are Wrong

For the last year, BYU quarterback Max Hall has consistently been the focus of criticism by his own fans.  Even as Hall's Cougars have racked up wins and become a mainstay in the Top 25, Hall has not been able to avoid fan's venom.  Now with his post-game remarks about the University of Utah following BYU's 26-23 overtime win on Saturday, Max Hall has become the target of hatred in Utah, in the West, and even some nation-wide who heard his post-game "rant."

In all of this, there are two words for those who have so much disdain for Hall:  You're Wrong.

We understand, it is soooo easy to hate on the guy who has so much confidence he's borderline arrogant.  But all season long, Hall has received scorn from his own fans about his performance.  We will get to why that scorn is completely unjustified in a post to come shortly.

But let us focus on Hall's post-game remarks about Utah for now.  As a favor to those who didn't hear it or read it later, and a reminder to those who have, here is what he said in the post-game:

"I don't like Utah. In fact, I hate them. I hate everything about them. I hate their program, I hate their fans, I hate everything.  So it felt really good to send those guys home.  They didn't deserve it. It was our turn, and our turn to win. We deserved it. We played as hard as we could tonight. And it felt really good, again, to send them home, to get them out of here, and so it is a game I will always remember."

When asked to elaborate, he continued:

"You really want me to go into it? ... I think the whole university, their fans and their organization is classless. They threw beer on my family and stuff last year, and they did a whole bunch of nasty things, and I don't respect them, and they deserved to lose."

We will agree, the post-game press conference was not the appropriate venue for what Hall said.  However, it must be noted that if a Utah player said this about BYU following a win, there would not be nearly the furor.  In fact, Utah DE Paul Kruger said the same thing, he hates BYU and how they carry themselves.  So why hate Max?  Because Max Hall is LDS at an LDS school.  So he felt a little emotion and didn't exercise discretion.  Now he is being called a "bad Christian" and a "bad example for the Mormon Church."

Lost in what Max Hall actually said is . . . what fueled Hall's spiteful remarks?  Here lies the entire reason that fans are (as usual) missing the boat.  What fueled Hall's words should be the area of truest concern here, but hardly anybody is talking about it at all.  And most of those who acknowledge what fueled it say "oh, there's no way that happened."  We learned more in Hall's official apology, which came the next day, was printed in papers, on websites, and read on air by some radio shows, and was unprovoked by anyone at BYU, something Hall did on his own:

"I want to take the opportunity to clarify and apologize for a few of my remarks after the game yesterday. Last year at RES (Rice Eccles Stadium) my family was spit on, had beer dumped on them, and were physically assaulted on several occasions. They had to endure extremely vile comments personally attacking my wife, my mother, other family members, and our religion. They had to be escorted to their car by local police.

 As a result of what happened to my family last year this rivalry became personal, and in the heat of the moment yesterday I made comments toward the entire university that were really directed specifically at those fans in RES. It was not intended to be directed at the entire organization and all of their fans and I apologize that it came out that way. I have the upmost respect for Kyle Whittingham, his coaching staff, and the Utah football players. I apologize to them and other members of the university for my comments. I’m also sorry if my comments took anything away from my teammates and coaches and our victory Saturday. The BYU-Utah game is a great rivalry, but no one should be treated the way my family was last year. I’m hoping that BYU and Utah fans can take steps to prevent future incidents at the game."

Just in case you missed it, let us point it out to you.  In last year's game in Salt Lake City, Max Hall's family, including his wife and mother, were spat upon, had drinks dumped on them, were physically confronted, were verbally assaulted personally and about their religion, and had to be escorted to their car by police.

To those who have been hating on Hall for what he said, consider this question:  if YOU attended a sporting event, and during the course of the game, YOUR wife and mother had drinks dumped on them, were verbally assaulted, and physically confronted, how would YOU feel about the organization that sponsored the event?

Somehow, what happened to Hall's family is completely lost on 99% of fans who are following this story.  Did Hall choose a bad time and lack of discretion with what he said?  Yes, of course.  But in no way is what he said worse than what prompted him to say it.  Utah fans are all over Max Hall for being a "bad Mormon" and a "hypocrite."  We ask you, where is your outrage towards those fans who disgraced your university by acting in such a way?  Or in your silence, are you defending their actions or condoning what they did as something that is okay at the University of Utah?


Some have said that Hall's apology is forced, and doesn't carry much weight anyway.  Utah fans certainly got more apology from Hall than his family did from Utah fans.  BYU coach Bronco Mendenhall said:

"The apology he issued (came) from him and no one else... if anyone thinks they've influenced his apology, that's a mistake; he woke up, did all of that on his own... I haven't talked to Max yet, nor has anyone else from our coaching staff. Max has done this completely on his own."

Now that the events that fueled Hall to say what he said have come to light, that Max Hall has become the focus of this story and people's hatred is baffling.  He realized he overspoke, manned up, issued an apology entirely on his own, and said that his feelings only go for those fans who did that to his family.

Beside, what he did was just WORDS.  How does what he SAID even compare to what the fans actually DID to his familiy?  BYU fans, Utah fans, and most everyone else need a reality check.