Quarterback, Permian High School.
Thanks to a book and a movie, easily one of the most recognizable positions in high school football.
Seemingly one of the most pressure-packed, as well, the spotlight heating up everyone it touches.
Rodney Hall wanted the spotlight, welcomed it, prepared for it.
For the past two seasons, it has followed him everywhere, on and off the field, and he’s deflected the blinding glare that has forced others to shield their eyes and turn away.
Hall embraced it, then stared it down.
The Panthers are in the midst of another strong season, having already clinched a playoff berth and still in the hunt for a District 2-6A title.
Hall is having the time of his life.
“He’s done an extremely great job,” Permian head coach Jeff Ellison said of Hall’s ability to deflect everything going on around him and concentrate on putting in the work each week.
“We talk about it as a team, we talk to the captains about it and I talk to him individually. As far as pressure, we talk about social media and he does a really good job as a high school senior of dealing with all that and I think a lot of that is support from his family; he’s got a really good support system.”
Hall was a quarterback when he stepped on campus as freshman in 2019.
When the spring of 2020 rolled around, Hall was too good to keep off the field as a sophomore, but Harper Terry was under center for the Panthers at that time.
So the coaching staff moved Hall to slot receiver, allowing his knowledge of the offense to expand while getting the needed experience on the varsity.
He stayed in that spot when the fall rolled around and sweltering summer days turned into fluorescent Friday nights, Terry directing the offense and Hall absorbing everything around him.
“I’ve always wanted to play quarterback,” Hall said. “My sophomore year, Harper, he was up there and they (coaches) put me on the field, they believed in me enough to let me play.
“It doesn’t even have to be at quarterback you, you know, so I was playing slot. The good think about playing slot is now that I’m the quarterback and I know the slot position, I know the receiver position and so I’m talking to teammates about what to do.”
That was another message from Terry and the coaching staff, for Hall to immerse himself in the offense and learn every spot because it was going to help down the road.
When Hall did have the rare chance to call cadence during his sophomore season, the learning didn’t stop as Terry was in his earhole with advice, keeping Hall grounded as the game continued to speed up.
“I was definitely nervous a lot and he (Terry) was there, keeping me calm,” Hall said. “Sophomore year, playing varsity quarterback, that’s not exactly what you expect.
“I gained a lot of confidence that year.”
That carried over to the 2021 season with Hall in control of the team as it made its way to the second round before a loss to Euless Trinity in the area playoffs.
A loss that fueled his and his teammates drive for this season.
Their senior season, which has been a focus from the first day they stepped on campus.
Permian is 8-1 overall, 3-1 in District 2-6A and will host Midland High at 7 p.m. Friday at Ratliff Stadium.
It’s the final game of the regular season and Senior Night for a group of players that have formed a bond likely never to be broken.
“The second round, that was a hard one; I told myself that’s not going to happen next year,” Hall said. “We knew before the season started that this was going to be a great team; that everyone was going to buy in.
“We’ve been together since freshman year and I think that’s one of the best parts about it. None of us have really split up, we’re all hanging out together in the same group, we already had that connection our freshman year.”
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