CONTRIBUTED BY AU ATHLETICS
AUBURN —
Auburn football captain Derick Hall is the 2022 winner of the national Freddie Solomon Community Spirit Award, the Premier Players Foundation of Tampa announced last Thursday.
A three-year starter along the Auburn defensive line, Hall has 147 career tackles, 18.5 sacks and 29.5 tackles for loss. He has made a definite impact on the field, earning preseason all-SEC recognition and SEC defensive lineman of the week four times during his career, but his work off the field is even more lasting.
Active in campus service efforts, he jumps in wherever he can use his influence to help — whether it’s enlisting students to attend basketball games, providing water to those in need in his home state of Mississippi or donating turkey, toys and Halloween candy to the families in his hometown of Gulfport, Mississippi.
“I want to give back to my community any way I can because I’ve been blessed,” Hall said. “People have supported me throughout my life, so why not support them and give back when I have the ability to do so?”
Freddie Solomon played college football at the University of Tampa and went on to play for the Miami Dolphins for three seasons before joining the San Francisco 49ers, where he helped win two Super Bowl championships. His career in the National Football League as a wide receiver came to a close after 11 years. Then, the Sumter, South Carolina, native known as “Fabulous Freddie” came back to Hillsborough County to make a more lasting impact.
Solomon devoted the next 12 years of his life to the youth of Tampa Bay, working with the sheriff’s department to teach children life lessons through football. His efforts impacted more than two decades of youths, and his lessons are still carried on in the community.
The Freddie Solomon Community Spirit Award, selected by his family and the Premier Players Foundation, continues Solomon’s efforts to help make the world a better place by annually honoring a collegiate football player who has impacted the lives of others through giving and community service.
Past winners of the Solomon Award include Nick Ford, Utah (2021); Daelin Hayes, Notre Dame (2020); Tre Tipton, Pitt (2019); Jonathan Lloyd, Duke (2018); Greg Joseph, Florida Atlantic (2017); Travis Rudolph, Florida State (2016); Matt Dobson, Georgia Southern (2015); Dylan Thompson, South Carolina (2014); Matt Floyd, USF (2013); and Asa Watson, North Carolina State (2012).