Vermeil- Clip could have been called on Hall's run

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- A clip could have been called on Dante Hall's spectacular, record-breaking punt return against Denver, Kansas City Chiefs coach Dick Vermeil agreed Monday.

But whether Julian Battle hit his man on the back or on the shoulder as Hall scampered about and slipped a swarm of would-be tacklers depends on the angle the play is viewed from, Vermeil added.

"It's a judgment call," Vermeil said. "If I were (the Broncos) I'd say I want it called."

The darting, knee-buckling, 93-yard return was Hall's fourth touchdown return in four games, breaking the NFL record of three straight that he had set the week before, and has made him the talk of the league.

Coming with a little more than eight minutes left, it provided the go-ahead points in a 24-23 victory that gave the Chiefs their first 5-0 record and dropped the Broncos to 4-1.

"If you're asking me if there was a clip, yeah, there was a clip," Denver coach Mike Shanahan said Monday. "It doesn't take a football genius to figure that one out, especially looking at it on the tape.

"But officials aren't 100 percent, just like our players aren't 100 percent. Some things get by them and other things don't."

Shanahan agreed with Vermeil that clipping is common on return plays.

"But these things do happen and you've got to find a way to get it done," he said.

Vermeil said the hit viewed from the sideline camera, "is definitely a hit in the back. When you get a chance to look at it from the end zone, you'll see it's right (on the shoulder) not right on the back."

Despite any controversy that may be stirred up on the non-call, Hall's incredible return -- a Chiefs record for a punt and his seventh touchdown return in 10 games -- will possibly stand as the most memorable play of the season.

The Chiefs were going for a block and did not even have a return on, and instead of catching the ball inside the 10-yard line, Hall was supposed to let it bounce into the end zone.

But catch it he did. And what happened next was simply amazing. First he darted this way, then he darted that way, eluding the first couple of Broncos to reach him.

Then he stutter-stepped as tacklers closed in. Then he turned and ran back toward the goal.

"I thought, 'What are are you doing? You're about to run into the end zone and get a safety,"' said Chiefs defensive end Eric Hicks.

"Then I realized who I was talking about, and I hushed my mouth. He is awesome."

Leaving about 10 Broncos bunched in the middle of the field near the goal line, the 5-foot-8 Hall looped back to his left, where a convoy of blockers awaited to escort him past the only opponent left between him and paydirt -- the poor kicker.

The last 20 yards, Hall jogged into the end zone as nearly 80,000 screaming fans made Arrowhead Stadium shudder.

"I've never seen a guy do it better," said Vermeil. "Eighty percent of that was on his own."

Chiefs players say that one thing that sets their likable little teammate apart is his uncanny instinct for setting up blocks.

"He's got a sixth sense about him. He feels the game," said Mike Maslowski, who made the knockdown on Denver punter Micah Knorr.

"He feels where his blocks are coming from and he commits to it when he sets it up just right."

With 11 regular-season games remaining, Hall has already tied the NFL's single-season record of four touchdown returns, last done by Denver's Rick Upchurch in the mid-1970s.

"He's as good as I've seen in 14 years of being in the league," said Denver tight end Shannon Sharpe.

As his stardom rises, Hall remains popular with teammates. He is always quick to share credit.

"What can I say? I'm truly blessed right now," he said. "It's a combination of my teammates and their downfield blocking and sticking with the play longer than their opponents. It was a total team effort."