Seattle Seahawks linebacker Derick Hall shares how his faith in God carried him from a 1% chance of survival at birth to becoming a Super Bowl champion.
Nothing is impossible for God. But sometimes we look at our situation and think, “There is no chance I can make it through this.”
We only see the challenges in front of us, but God sees the full picture. And when we trust Him and lean on His strength, He can turn our brokenness into something beautiful. Derick Hall’s story is proof of that.
A Baby Born Without a Heartbeat
So here is a man standing on the biggest stage in football. A Super Bowl champion. But rewind the tape and you find a baby born four months too early at just 23 weeks. No heartbeat. A brain bleed. And doctors giving him a 1% chance of making it.
“I wasn’t born… breathing,” Hall told Fox News Digital. “I was born dead.”
A Mother’s Faith That Held the Line
His mother Stacy Gooden-Crandle remembers the fear and the uncertainty of those early days. But she also remembers where she placed her trust. “I just trusted that God would work everything out,” she said.
And listen to this. She called their shared faith “probably the most important thing that we share.” She said “We are people of faith and have been for most of my lifetime. I joined church when I was 16 years old, and I’ve just grown up as a woman of faith. I’ve raised my children in the church and instilled faith in them and just allowed them to flourish in their faith in their walk with Christ.”
That right there is a mother who built her house on the rock.
The Kid Who Could Only Play for Five Minutes
Growing up Hall’s life looked nothing like the other kids around him. From about age four to thirteen he could only play outside for five minutes at a time. Then he had to sit down for an hour just to let his lungs catch up. And to this day his lungs are still underdeveloped. They always will be.
But football found him. “It was the first thing that I was able to do to make me feel like a normal kid,” he said.
His mom made sure every coach had asthma pumps and rescue inhalers. She started him with flag football first because they were still seeing a neurologist every six months for the brain bleed.
His pastor told him something that stayed with him through all of it. “You weren’t dying for this, you are blessed to be in this position and God has something greater for you.”
From Scholarship to the Super Bowl
Hall earned his first college scholarship offer in the eighth grade. He went on to star at Gulfport High School in Mississippi then became a dominant force at Auburn University finishing with 147 tackles and 19.5 sacks. He was drafted 37th overall in 2023.
But the 2025 regular season was tough. Just two sacks in 14 games. He was doing the work but the numbers weren’t showing up. “I was steady getting hits… I’m getting pressures,” Hall said. “But I can’t get the sack… I’m like, Lord, whatever you got planned, let it reveal itself.”
God’s Time Is Always Right on Time
Then Super Bowl LX happened. Two sacks. A forced fumble. A strip sack that broke the game wide open. Seattle won 29 to 13. And Hall was right in the middle of all of it.
“I got to that Super Bowl and I got both sacks, and I’m like, man, ain’t no time like God’s time,” he said.
We love that. Ain’t no time like God’s time. That is the truth right there.
Hall made it clear where he stands. “I always speak to my faith because obviously I’m a miracle child, and I don’t say I’m doing good, I say I’m blessed, I can’t complain, I’m above ground and I’m blessed.”
And then he said something that honestly just hits different. “You can’t tell me that a child with a one percent chance to live and not supposed to be walking, not supposed to be talking, not even supposed to be alive, ends up being a Super Bowl champion one day without the Lord being in their lives. That’s a miracle in itself.”
We Serve a God Who Makes a Way
If you are in a situation right now where you see no reason to hope for anything good just remember this. God is not done with you.
Derick Hall was born dead with a 1% chance of survival and God turned that into a Super Bowl testimony. So whatever you are facing today keep trusting Him. When His time comes He will move in a way that only He can.
“For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.” — Jeremiah 29:11
WATCH: Derick Hall’s Miraculous Story
