In college, they were fierce rivals, each representing their respective teams with intense rivalry between Ohio State and Michigan.
But fate intervened during a critical moment in another Ohio State-Michigan game last November, bringing Michael Hall Jr. and Zak Zinter together once again.
Formerly enemies on the field, they are now teammates for the Cleveland Browns in the NFL.
This NFL draft for Cleveland is imp. for two main reasons: It’s the final draft influenced by the Deshaun Watson trade in 2022, and the Browns selected Hall and Zinter with their top two picks, whose paths crossed on November 25th.
During the game, Zinter suffered a broken left leg when Hall accidentally fell onto him while blocking another Ohio State player. Now, they find themselves united in Cleveland, representing both Ohio State and Michigan.
As they walk on their NFL journey together, Zinter, who recovered from his injury, reflects on the play that ended his college career but led to a new chapter in his football career.
When the incident occurred, there were many uncertainties. For Zinter, everything changed in that moment on the field.
“When the doctors came out, my leg was kind of sideways, so they straightened it out and I could feel all the bones in there crinkling and touching,” he said calmly. “It wasn’t the best experience, but we got through it.”
Hall remembers the play vividly.
“We even prayed for him after when that happened,” said Hall, who grew up in Cleveland and always wanted to play for the Browns. “It was just really sad to see that. He’s a great player and now he’s my teammate. My brother.”
Zinter never blamed Hall for his injury, realizing it could have happened at any time during any game.
Any animosity between Hall and Zinter is now in the past, and seeing the new rookies sitting together on stage was surprising considering their intense rivalry in college.
They were all smiles as their families watched them take the next step in their professional careers. But that’s not to say there won’t be some tough practices ahead.
“Did you guys challenge them to a steel cage death match?” Saganey joked. “Both those guys are super competitive players and played some pretty good football at a high level. So that’ll be fun to watch that battle.”
