Born at 1% Survival Odds, Now a Super Bowl Champion

A baby born dead at 23 weeks, unable to breathe on his own, just became one of football's biggest heroes.

Derick Hall entered the world four months early in 2002 without a heartbeat. Doctors gave him a 1% chance of survival. He suffered a brain bleed, and his lungs never fully developed. Medical professionals told his mother Stacy Gooden-Crandle that even if he survived, he likely wouldn't walk or talk.

This February, Hall strip-sacked the Patriots quarterback in Super Bowl LX, helping lead the Seattle Seahawks to victory.

"I was born dead," Hall told Fox News Digital. But his mother held onto something stronger than statistics. "I just trusted that God would work everything out," Gooden-Crandle said.

Even surviving infancy didn't mean a normal childhood. From ages four to thirteen, Hall could only play outside for five minutes at a time before needing an hour of rest. His lungs remain underdeveloped to this day, always three years behind where they should be.

Football became his lifeline at age four. "It was the first thing that I was able to do to make me feel like a normal kid," Hall said.

Letting him play tackle football meant a leap of faith for his mom. She equipped every coach and trainer with asthma pumps and rescue inhalers. She kept one herself. Hall was still seeing a neurologist every six months for his brain bleed.

The risk paid off. Hall received his first college scholarship offer in eighth grade. He became a four-star prospect at Gulfport High School in Mississippi, then an All-SEC edge rusher at Auburn University.

College brought another health scare. Hall woke up one morning unable to walk two steps without gasping for air. Doctors told his mother that waiting even a few more hours could have been fatal.

Why This Inspires

Hall's journey shows what becomes possible when faith meets determination. His mother raised him in the church from age 16, building a foundation that helped both of them make sense of extraordinary challenges. "My pastor always told me, you weren't dying for this, God has something greater for you," Hall said.

Today, Hall doesn't say he's doing good. He says he's blessed. "You can't tell me that a child with a one percent chance to live ends up being a Super Bowl champion one day without the Lord being in their lives," he said.

From a hospital room where doctors prepared his mother for the worst to holding the Lombardi Trophy on football's biggest stage, Hall beat odds that most people never face.