Andre Hal is at peace as he walks away from the Texans, retiring from the NFL with his health and dignity intact.

Hal surprised the Texans on Tuesday when he informed coach Bill O'Brien, general manager Brian Gaine and defensive coordinator Romeo Crennel individually at NRG Stadium that he was done with football at age 26 after five seasons as a Texan.

Although Hal had two years remaining on his $16.5 million contract with up to $7.5 million to be earned and is completely healthy after beating lymphoma last year and returning to play and intercepting three passes for a division winner, he simply couldn't play the game for money alone.

When Hal's father, Andre Hal Sr., died from a heart attack in late October before his son's first game back against the Jacksonville Jaguars, it took a major toll on the former Vanderbilt standout. It triggered emotions in him that led him to this major life decision.

Hal said he realized that a large reason why he had pushed himself to reach the NFL was to make his father proud. He accomplished that shared goal.

"I had been thinking about it and how my dad first put the ball in my hands when I was growing up," Hal said in a telephone interview Wednesday afternoon. "When he passed, the love for football passed with him. Going through that experience and the cancer experience, I had some time to think about it. I had to make sure I was making the right decision.

"I feel good about my decision. I didn't want to play the game and not love it. You have to love the game to play at a high level. I didn't want to not be at my best for me, for my teammates, for my coaches. I couldn't do that. I can't just be collecting a check. I'm not that type of guy."

Hal injured his shoulder against the Jaguars during his first game back after being activated from the non-football illness list, suffering a setback after all he had overcome to get back on the field after being diagnosed with lymphoma last spring, when he began experiencing blurry vision. Sidelined for the next few games while he recovered from the injury, the former seventh-round draft pick realized he didn't feel the same way about football anymore.

"When I was out again and hurt, it was like, 'Golly, what else do I have to go through?'" Hal said. "It built up in me. I thought, 'I have to find another way besides football.' I couldn't continue to play. It's a tough game.

"When my dad passed, it was hard for me to come in and put all the time and effort into it when I didn't love the game as much as I used to. I can't continue. I can't go through another year. I had to be true to myself. I can't be messing over the team. This game is real life. This is people's livelihood."

It was important to Hal to tell the Texans in person that he had experienced a change of heart and didn't want to continue playing for them. Hal said he spent a few hours at NRG Stadium talking about his choice.

"It was cool," Hal said. "It was my decision. I wanted to tell them in person, face to face, out of respect for those guys. I came in and talked to them one-on-one. They took it well.

"They congratulated me for being a great teammate and a great leader. It was a great feeling. I'm going out the right way telling them face to face and saying goodbye to everybody. It was a great time."

It was particularly emotional when Hal and Crennel — who both joined the Texans in 2014 —embraced and talked about their time together.

"It was a very sad moment," Hal said. "Me and RAC, he was like a father figure to me, a grandfather figure to me. He gave me a hug. He told me he loved me, I told him I loved him. He said, 'I respect your decision.' He's like a legend."

Faith is hugely important to Hal and his family.

His mother, Lisa West Snearl, told the Chronicle last season that her son was part of something bigger than him in how he dealt with his health problems.

“He’s an inspiration,” West Snearl said from her home in Port Allen, La. “I kept looking at my son, and I was like, ‘He’s not showing any emotion.’ Then I realized: He gets it from me. He acts just like me. I’m the same way. When you’re a single parent, you don’t have time to be sick. You can’t take a day off. You keep moving.

"You just say OK to whatever comes. The report about your health, that doesn’t stop you. The mentality my kids have seen in me is I’m self-employed. I raised him and his sisters single-handedly. I couldn’t afford to get sick. They saw that strength that God placed in me about how I run my life.”

Voted as the winner of the Ed Block Courage award by his teammates for overcoming adversity last year, Hal relied on his faith again in making this decision.

Hal talked extensively last season and after the season with Texans cornerback Aaron Colvin about how conflicted he was about continuing to play. Colvin's locker was located next to Hal's in a corner of the Texans' locker room.

"I talked to Aaron about it," Hal said. "I didn't want to talk about it with too many guys. I kept it between us. I talked to Aaron. He's real spiritual, a real spiritual friend.

"We talked a lot and he told me during the season, 'Stay patient, because this could be a phase you're going through.' He helped me get in the right state of mind."

Hal did an NFLPA internship this summer in California. He has some real estate opportunities. Regardless of what he does next, Hal is convinced that he'll continue to be a winner.

Beating the odds as a seventh-round draft pick, changing positions from cornerback to safety, overcoming Hodgkin's lymphoma and dealing with the grief of his father's death from a heart attack, Hal is certain that he's on the right path.

"I've got some plans, some ideas," Hal said. "One thing I told Brian Gaine and OB, going through being diagnosed with cancer and playing in the NFL again, whatever I want to do next, I'll be successful.

"I know how to work. It takes a lot of effort and work with what I've been doing from high school to college and the NFL. I know how to work. Whatever I do, I'm going to do it right and I'm going to do it hard."