Breece Hall declares for NFL Draft

Iowa State junior running back Breece Hall breaks the tackle of TCU safety Nook Bradford en route to the end zone for a touchdown in the second quarter on Friday, Nov. 26, 2021, at Jack Trice Stadium in Ames.

Breece Hall is headed to the National Football League.

We all knew this day was coming soon. The moment officially arrived on Saturday when Hall released a statement on his Instagram account announcing his decision to forgo his remaining eligibility and enter the 2022 NFL Draft.

Hall, a native of Wichita, Kan., will leave Iowa State as one of the most decorated players to wear a Cyclone uniform. In 36 games as a Cyclone, the two-time Big 12 Offensive Player of the Year carried the ball 718 times for 3,941 yards and 50 touchdowns. He added 82 receptions for 800 yards and six touchdowns through the air.

In his final regular-season game, Hall broke the NCAA record for consecutive games with a rushing touchdown by crossing the goal line in his 24th straight contest.

Hall became the first unanimous All-American in program history after leading the nation in rushing as a sophomore in 2020. He joined Troy Davis by becoming Iowa State’s second two-time consensus All-American in 2021.

Hall and Davis will forever be linked as the two most significant tailbacks to wear an Iowa State uniform for numerous reasons.

Some questioned Hall’s decision to wear Davis’ No. 28 when he selected the number as a freshman and became the first Iowa State player to wear the number since Davis’ younger brother, Darren.

Hall finishes his career as the No. 2 rusher in Iowa State football history, behind only Davis. Still, he holds numerous other school career records, including rushing touchdowns, total touchdowns, scoring and multiple-touchdown games.

Hall tied Davis’ record for single-season touchdowns in 2020 with 21. He followed it up with 17 more in 2021, which is good for fourth.

Hall rushed for 1,572 yards as a sophomore, the third-most in a single season at Iowa State behind only Davis in 1996 and 1995.

These statistics led to Hall finishing in the top-10 of Heisman balloting in consecutive years with a sixth-place finish in 2020 and a 10th-place slot in 2021. He was also a finalist for the Doak Walker Award, given annually to the nation’s best running back, in each of the past two seasons.

Hall also registers as one of the best tailbacks in Big 12 history as he’s tied for the league record with 20 multiple-touchdown games. He’s in the league’s top-10 in career rushing yards, 100-yard rushing games and touchdowns.

He’s also one of only four Big 12 players to be named the league’s Offensive Player of the Year twice, joining Heisman Trophy winners Ricky Williams, Jason White and Baker Mayfield.

Hall is expected to be one of the first running backs selected in next April’s draft and is regarded by many to be the best back in the class.

His time as a Cyclone might be over, but nobody who was there to witness his abilities in an Iowa State uniform will ever forget it. He was a special, generational type of tailback.

Hall’s status for Iowa State’s bowl game against Clemson is unclear, but the statement reads as though he’s unlikely to play, which is a major bummer for anyone who wanted to see him play in cardinal and gold one more time.

Regardless, we were lucky to watch one of the greatest Cyclones of all time carry the football.

Safe to say, he lived up to that No. 28.