Tom E. Curran • E-mail

INDIANAPOLIS -

DeAngelo Hall showed up at the NFL Combine Friday and laid into the Atlanta Falcons for his belief that they are trying to trade him.

The 24-year-old cornerback said the likelihood of his playing for Atlanta in 2008 is “slim to none.”

“I don’t think people can honestly say I’m a bad guy,” said Hall, the eighth overall pick in the 2004 draft. “For some reason, those questions have been brought up (about his character), so I’m here to try to defend myself and tell my side of the story.”

The Newark Star-Ledger reported Friday that the Giants were willing to send the 31st pick in the draft to the Falcons. Neither Falcons coach Mike Smith nor GM Tom Dimitroff has come out and said point-blank Hall is to be traded.

Hall said one of his motivations for being in Indy was to check out the Combine process.

“I’m a future GM in this league,” he explained. “Might as well get started now.”

So what would Hall the GM do with Hall the player? “I wouldn’t let him go,” he stated. “I’m outspoken. I’m emotional. But in this game and in the position I play you’ve got to be that. You’re on an island and guarding some of the fiercest athletes in the world. I don’t think I’m any more outspoken than hundreds and hundreds of other guys in the NFL. But I’m being put under a magnifying glass right now.”

Hall is talented enough to warrant the kind of attention he was paid Friday. Muddying the waters will be his behavior.

In a dysfunctional 2007 for the Falcons, Hall was far from a stabilizing force. He clashed with head coach Bobby Petrino, labeled the release of Grady Jackson “asinine” and was fined for a sideline dustup with Petrino and other coaches in September.

It should be noted that the distaste many Falcons had for Petrino was well-founded. He bolted the team before the end of the season. But Hall — who’s trying to paint himself as a straight-shooter rather than a malcontent — has muddied the waters with his behavior.

It’s hard to find teams to spend for a guy who may be a locker room lawyer.

Meanwhile, Hall’s motivation is hard to pin down. He’s upset the Falcons are trying to trade him, yet he doesn’t seem to want to stay in Atlanta. Then he says, “It’s not that I’m out here trying to request a trade. That is not the case. The case is that these guys are trying to trade me. That’s what it comes down to. Not me trying to get traded.”

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“There’s betrayal,” added Hall. “I feel like these guys stabbed me in the back. Who’s to say if I come out and play this year that they won’t franchise me the following year. This team is rebuilding. We don’t have a quarterback. Our D-line is kinda questionable. There’s a couple of positions on offense that are kinda questionable. This is a team that has to build in the draft.”

Hall says he’s lobbying to be moved before the draft. He is entering the final year of his rookie deal. 

Cerrato sheds light on Zorn hire
It seemed things went down weird in Washington when Jim Zorn was hired as the Redskins head coach.

Jim Fassel appeared to be the leader in the clubhouse, especially after Giants defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo turned the job down.

But then owner Dan Snyder and GM Vinny Cerrato hired Zorn whom they had just recently installed as offensive coordinator.

After the hiring of Zorn, Fassel fumed that he’d been the one to recommend the former Seahawks quarterback in the first place.

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