Boy sending insert back to DeAngelo Hall after CB began search

ByJohn Keim ESPN logo
Monday, August 10, 2015

RICHMOND, Va. -- DeAngelo Hall didn't give a boy the shirt off his back, but he did accidentally give him something he probably needed more: his cleats. Or, more specifically, the orthotics inside them.

And that led to a successful social media quest to track down the 10-year-old recipient, who was given shoes by theWashington Redskinscornerback after a practice on Aug. 3.

Hall located the boy who had his shoes and, as of Monday morning, was still waiting for the orthotics to arrive. But he was told it's on the way.

In return, Hall promised the boy a game-worn jersey -- plus he can keep the autographed size 13 cleats.

"I forgot about it until I put my cleats on the next day," Hall said, "and I was like, 'Dang, this don't feel good.' I started thinking about it and was like, 'Dang, I forgot those orthotics in those cleats.' That's when I took to Twitter."

Those inserts are orthotics that were molded to Hall's foot. He needed them coming off a torn left Achilles suffered in Week 1 last season. Hall also had given away his right cleat, from which he did recover the orthotics.

Hall hasn't needed his cleats since then, however, as he injured his groin and has remained sidelined. His doctor also is sending him an extra set of orthotics.

The tale began when a 10-year-old from Seattle, Mason Baker, received a birthday trip to Redskins training camp -- his family told KOMO news in Seattle that they were from Washington, D.C. After practice, the boy asked Hall for his shoes and he obliged.

Next came the quest to get the orthotics back. On Aug. 6, after a day off, Hall sent out his first tweet, asking for the cleats to be returned so he could get his insoles back. A minute later he promised a gift in return. Hall said he knew he couldn't get a new one sent from his doctor until Monday.

Social media helped, too, as his original tweet was retweeted 699 times and favorited another 637. The family told KOMO that they shipped it via FedEx.

"We tweeted it to him, just give us an address, and we'll send it to you," Mason told the TV station.

So Hall did that, and it's now en route.

"I had a lot of help from a lot of people," Hall said. "A lot of people in the media, retweeting it and trying to help me out. That was encouraging.

"[People] thought it was a joke or I was trying to steal my shoe back. I was like, I don't want the shoe. You can have the shoe ... Coming off the Achilles, it helps align my body the right way and takes pressure off my heel and arches."

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