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Gateway LB Hale destined to hit
By Tricia Lafferty
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Friday, August 24, 2007


Gateway senior linebacker Shayne Hale was 7 years old when he had the revelation.
Hale was watching a Steelers game with his father and made a bold statement for a kid who had never played organized football.

"I told him one day I want be out there, and he said, 'Your time will come. Do your best and it can happen,' " Hale said.

Ten years later, Hale finds himself rated as the No. 1 linebacker in the country, according to rivals.com, with more than 50 scholarship offers and inching closer to his dream.

The 6-foot-3, 235-pound Hale, who bench presses 380 pounds and squats 460, could quite easily walk into an NFL locker room today and the pros probably wouldn't look twice, thanks to his physique and maturity. First, though, after narrowing his list to Michigan, Ohio State, Virginia and West Virginia, Hale has to choose a college.

"Shayne is the enforcer," Smith said. "He is the intimidator. He walks in and everyone gets quiet to see what kind of mood he's in. He doesn't speak a lot. When he does speak, everyone pays attention. And he's so big that you better pay attention. I have never seen a high school kid that was built like him."

Gateway LB Hale destined to hit - Pittsburgh Tribune-Review