The Roanoke Times I File 2007

Former Virginia Tech linebacker Vince Hall will participate in the Rams' mini-camp beginning Thursday.

Vince Hall was an All-ACC linebacker -- an All-American on a few lists -- at Virginia Tech. He piled up 404 career tackles, starting almost every game in his four seasons.

Tech defensive coordinator Bud Foster has coached 29 NFL Draft picks, yet he calls Hall the best player he's ever had. "Wherever the ball is," Foster once said, "that's where you'll find Vince."

Yet, on NFL Draft weekend, Hall was nowhere to be found.

The mystery might be solved. Hall said a nagging knee injury he suffered before the Orange Bowl in January was more than a bruise.

"I had microfracture surgery, actually," Hall said. "Teams got scared of that, I guess."

Microfracture surgery helps restore knee cartilage by creating tiny holes in the adjacent bones. One recent study reported that the surgery's success rate of 75 to 80 percent among patients age 45 or younger.

The surgery carries a stigma. While best-case recovery time is four months, former NBA player Chris Webber said it took him eight months to fully heal, and even then, Webber did not return to his old form.

Phoenix Suns star Amare Stoudemire needed nearly a year to recover after his 2005 surgery.

Tech's head athletic trainer, Mike Goforth, put Hall's injury in the "moderate" category and said he expects him to fully recover.

Hall said Friday that he banged the knee while jumping an ocean wave on a personal watercraft in Miami.

Virginia Tech called it a bruise as the time, a description his agent has used in the months since then, and Hall played in the Orange Bowl that week. But after the game, the injury worsened.

"If I had it to do again, I'd ask Coach [Frank] Beamer not to rent out that beach for us," Hall said. "We were all having fun, but it cost me. I should have never been out there."

Despite his prolific college career, Hall couldn't afford any eyebrow-raising ailments. There were already questions about his height (he's a shade under 6 feet) and his speed. And a broken wrist kept Hall out for a month earlier in his senior season.

"The NFL loves freaky athletes. Me, I'm the guy who, if you put a man out there with a football, I'm going to tackle him," said Hall, who was unable to perform drills for scouts at the NFL combine. "But the knee kind of sealed the deal. I tried to tell teams I would be OK, that my rehab was going good."

The proving begins Thursday, when Hall will take part in the St. Louis Rams' mini-camp. St. Louis signed Hall to a free-agent contract after the draft, offering no guaranteed money unless he makes the team.

"I plan on making it," said Hall, who rates his health at 90 percent. "My knee feels good, and I'm ready to work. I'm ready to show those other teams that they missed on a good opportunity."