D.J. Glynn HALL Accomplishments • A 1999 Hall High School graduate, Glynn won seven IHSA State Track and Field medals during his prep career • Won four Class A state titles (100 meter, 200 meter, 400 meter and the high jump) in 1999 and helped Hall to a Class A second-place team finish • Holds three NewsTribune all-time area records (100, 200 and 400), which is the most by a male athlete • A three-year starter on the Red Devil football team, he was a member of the 1996 state runner-up team • Ran for 1,709 carries and 8.5 yards per carry his senior season SUBMITTED PHOTOS
By Brandon LaChance
W
hen you think of the name D.J. Glynn, track and field is the first connection. However, it isn’t if you ask the Hall Class of 1999 graduate because football is his first love. “Ever since I was a little kid and I saw the captain pictures – all the guys who played before us – in the grade school and I said, ‘I want to be on that poster one day,’” said Glynn. “I wanted to be a Red Devil football captain and I wanted to be a starting running back. Football in that era, football was everything in Spring Valley. It’s the brotherhood. You go through the good and the bad, the ups and the downs, the blood, sweat and tears together as a family. It’s discipline, hard work and it’s not easy. Life is not easy. “If you can make it through football, you can excel in life. There are way more life lessons in football than people realize. You go in as a young kid wanting to play ball, but you come out as young men. You learn how to work together and to have your brother’s back. It’s an incredible atmosphere.” Glynn was a three-year starter for the Red Devil football team, was a sophomore on the 1996 state-runner up team and led the 1997
WHERE are they NOW
34 September 29, 2021 | Illinois Valley Sports Hall of Fame | A NewsTribune Publication
