Seahawks' Hall credits faith from 1% birth odds to Super Bowl win
Seattle Seahawks linebacker Derick Hall recorded two sacks and a strip sack in Super Bowl LX, helping secure a 29-13 victory over the New England Patriots on Feb. 8, 2026, at Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara, California. Hall, born four months premature at 23 weeks gestation without a heartbeat and with a brain bleed, faced 1% survival odds as a newborn. He and his mother, Stacy Gooden-Crandle, attribute his journey to a Super Bowl champion to their Christian faith.
Hall told Fox News Digital he was "born dead" and not breathing at birth. Gooden-Crandle described the early days as filled with uncertainty and fear, but said she trusted God to work things out. She raised Hall in the church after joining at age 16, instilling faith that helped him process childhood struggles.
Hall's lungs remain underdeveloped, three years behind, limiting play to short bursts from ages 4 to 13. He started flag football at age 4 to build his body and feel normal, progressing to tackle despite neurological checkups for his brain bleed. Gooden-Crandle equipped coaches with inhalers; Hall earned a college offer in eighth grade, starred at Gulfport High School in Mississippi, then at Auburn with 147 tackles, 19.5 sacks and 29.5 tackles for loss in 40 games, earning first-team All-SEC honors in 2022 as a captain. Selected 37th overall in the 2023 NFL Draft by Seattle, he managed two sacks in 14 regular-season games in 2025 before his Super Bowl breakout.
Hall cited a college health scare requiring hospitalization and views his success as divine: "You can’t tell me that a child with a one percent chance to live... ends up being a Super Bowl champion one day without the Lord being in their lives." He called the Super Bowl sacks proof of "God’s time" after a mentally tough season.
