Connected sports records
Season reference · 1954–1969
Year by year
Season statistics: TBD.
Backup quarterback; rookie season.
Season statistics: TBD.
Backup quarterback.
Season statistics: TBD.
First season as Cleveland’s starting quarterback.
Season statistics: TBD.
Starting quarterback.
Season statistics: TBD.
Starting quarterback.
Season statistics: TBD.
Starting quarterback.
Season statistics: TBD.
Starting quarterback.
Season statistics: TBD.
Starting quarterback.
Season statistics: TBD.
Starting quarterback.
Season statistics: TBD.
Starting quarterback.
Season statistics: TBD.
Starting quarterback.
Season statistics: TBD.
Starting quarterback.
Season statistics: TBD.
Starting quarterback.
Starting quarterback.
Cleveland won the NFL Championship to advance to Super Bowl III and beat the Jets 16–7.
Super Bowl III: 22/29, 217 yards, 1 TD, 0 INT; Super Bowl MVP.
01 / Biography
Life and background
Childhood and Michigan State
Robert grew up in a stable, supportive home in Green Bay. He chose Michigan State because a coach believed in him when others did not.
Marriage and family
Robert married Jennifer Hall. They had no children. His father was William Hall; Roger Hall was his younger brother, Patrick Hall Sr. his nephew, and Patrick Hall Jr. his great-nephew.
Jennifer Hall
Jennifer was warm, patient and grounded. She and Robert met at college.
Life after Cleveland
After retiring from Cleveland, Robert became an outspoken football commentator. His insistence that winning earned a person the right to speak continued to shape his public voice.
Additional biographical details
End status: Died January 8, 2000 · age 69.
02 / Career & Football Identity
The player and the résumé
A grizzled old-school pioneer, Robert learned ‘you haven’t earned the right to speak until you’ve won’ directly from mentor Otto Graham before taking over in Cleveland.
He won NFL championships as a backup in 1954 and 1955. As Cleveland’s starter from 1956 through 1969, he won the 1964 and 1968 NFL Championships and Super Bowl III, bringing his total to five player championships. He has no interest in seeing those achievements era-adjusted for modern audiences.
His rivalry with younger brother Roger remained unresolved and low-stakes: they split their only two meetings, far too small a sample to settle anything. Robert did not care that Roger became the more remembered family name because, by his value system, five rings had already answered every worthwhile question.
04 / Relationships
People in the record
05 / Legacy & Analysis
What the life and résumé mean
Robert was the older brother of Roger Hall.
Winning is the prerequisite for authority in Robert’s worldview; recognition from later audiences is irrelevant.