Question: What Kenyon alumnus sports a national football league championship ring? The answer is Neil Hall, Class of 2002. Hall is a two-year quarterback with the Landquart Broncos of Chur, in the Alpine canton of Graub ünden, Switzerland, the reigning team of the ten that comprise the Swiss league of American football. Hall led his team to the Swiss national championship in 2003, putting the Broncos into contention for the 2004 Eurobowl.

American football has been on the European scene for twenty years and is well enough established to create celebrities-like Hall. On the day of a game against one of the Paris teams, Swiss national television gave him superstar treatment, following him from the moment he woke up right through post-game interviews.

Hall's path to Switzerland began in Gambier. During his senior year, he learned about the European leagues from a former teammate. With the help of Kenyon's athletic department, Hall prepared a personal-highlights tape. It caught the eye of a recruiter for the Eidsvoll 1814s in Norway. After an interview, the Kenyon running back found himself heading for the land of the midnight sun on a one-year contract and then, a year later, moving to Switzerland-in both cases, to play quarterback.

In the last analysis, Hall says he went to Europe "to make an adventure." In this, he has been entirely successful. He marvels still at the good fortune that led him to his picturesque Alpine environment and to the wonders of travel around the continent. But he knows his way back. He poses for team publicity shots in the Kenyon apparel he wears daily. Hall is active in the Kenyon Football Alumni Network and comes back to campus for social events. That's for the fun, of course, but it's also for the connection. What his former Kenyon teammate did for him, he'd love to do for other Kenyon players who want to make their own adventures along the way to the Eurobowl.