AUBURN, Ala. – Derick Hall was just 5 years old when Hurricane Katrina struck the Gulf Coast, devastating New Orleans and other surrounding areas along the coast. One of those areas was Gulfport, Mississippi where Hall grew up. He still remembers returning home only to find his family's house had flooded.
"You have nothing there," Hall said. "It's losing everything."
So, in August, when flooding in Jackson, Mississippi caused the city's main water treatment plant to fail and left close to 150,000 residents without safe drinking water, it was only natural for Hall to want to step in and try to help out his home state.
The senior captain at Auburn got in contact with State Representative Jeffrey Hulum III, a family friend, who was planning to go up and help any way he could. Hall wanted to do his part, so he used his money to send pallets of clean water to the residents in the Jackson area.
"I know it's tough when things like that happen, so that was a big thing for me just to have an opportunity to give back to my community," Hall said. "I love my state, and I love where I'm from. I've been raised there my whole life, and it's a place I hold near and dear to my heart because of how much they've done for me."
It was growing up in Mississippi where Hall first learned to give back from his mother, Stacy Gooden-Crandle, who still works at the Salvation Army in Gulfport as a social service program coordinator. Helping his mother, Hall would go out and ring the bell during Christmas time. He would tag along and hand out food to the homeless or ride next to her on the canteen truck while she passed out food on Thanksgiving.
Now, as Hall finishes out his time at Auburn as one of the top pass-rushers in the SEC and prepares for a career in the NFL, he still has that servant's heart.
"I just try to find any way I can to give back because we haven't always had it the way we have now," he said. "My mom struggled. She worked two jobs while raising two kids going to college. I know what it's like to struggle, and I know what it's like to fall on hard times.
"I'm always hungry, but I'm always humble. You can't ever get too high or too low. You can't let material things change who you are and the kind of person that you are."
The flooding and the water plant failure in Jackson took place back in August, but it's still affecting people months later. Hall has already sent water over twice – when it first happened in August and again in October – and he plans to continue sending water when able.
One of the main reasons Hall has been able to help with the water crisis is the introduction of NIL to college athletics. It's allowed Hall to make money off his name, image and likeness and then use that money to help those in need.
"NIL has helped a lot of people do things they wouldn't normally be able to do," he said. "It definitely helped me execute my plan on this, and I have some plans coming in November to do a turkey drive and things like that back home.
"I just want to continue to give back to my community because I've been blessed. People have supported me, so why not support them and give back?"
