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Will Hill

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Will Hill III
refer to caption
Hill playing for the Baltimore Ravens in 2015
Arlington Renegades
Position:Strong safety
Personal information
Born: (1990-03-07) March 7, 1990 (age 34)
East orange, New Jersey
Height:6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)
Weight:215 lb (98 kg)
Career information
High school:St. Peter's Preparatory School
(Jersey City, New Jersey)
College:Florida
Undrafted:2011
Career history
Career highlights and awards
College
High School
Career NFL statistics
Total tackles:221
Sacks:1.0
Forced fumbles:3
Fumble recoveries:2
Interceptions:4
Total touchdowns:3
Stats at Pro Football Reference
Stats at CFL.ca

Will Hill III (born March 7, 1990) is a current football safety for the Arlington Renegades of the XFL. He played college football for the University of Florida and was a member of Florida's 2009 BCS National Championship team. He was signed as an undrafted free agent by the New York Giants in 2012, and has also played for the Baltimore Ravens of the National Football League (NFL) from 2014 to 2015. He was also a member of the Arizona Rattlers of the Arena Football League (AFL), the Hamilton Tiger-Cats of the Canadian Football League (CFL), the Orlando Apollos of the Alliance of American Football (AAF), and the St. Louis BattleHawks of the XFL.

Early years

Hill was born and raised in East Orange, New Jersey. He attended St. Peter's Preparatory School in Jersey City, New Jersey. At St. Peter's Preparatory School, he was a two-sport athlete in football and track. In football, he played receiver, quarterback, running back, and safety in his junior year. He ran for 682 yards from both running back and quarterback positions and threw for 758 yards. He had three interceptions and 68 tackles playing free safety and had 444 yards receiving.[1] As a senior, Hill had 947 yards passing and seven touchdowns, he rushed for 960 yards and 19 touchdowns and had 43 tackles, four interceptions, and three pass breakups on defense. He was a first team all-state selection. He was the 2007 New Jersey Offensive Player of the Year.[2]

In track and field, Hill competed as a sprinter. He recorded a personal-best time of 52.9 seconds in the 400-meter dash as a freshman.[3] In addition, he also ran a 4.4-second 40-yard dash as a senior.

Following his high school senior season, Rivals.com, ESPN, and Scout.com all rated Hill as the top high school safety in the nation. ESPN rated him as the second overall football prospect and the top-ranked overall athlete in the nation. Rivals rated Hill tenth and Scout rated him sixth among all college football recruits.

College career

Hill accepted an athletic scholarship to attend the University of Florida, where he played for coach Urban Meyer's Florida Gators football team from 2008 to 2010. As a free safety and special teams contributor, he was chosen to be on the 2008 SEC Football All-Freshman Team.[4] Hill compiled 48 tackles and two interceptions as a freshman for the Gators. He recorded the first tackle of the 2009 BCS Championship Game, in which the Gators defeated the Oklahoma Sooners by a score of 24–14.

Professional career

Pre-draft measurables
Height Weight 40-yard dash 10-yard split 20-yard split 20-yard shuttle Three-cone drill Vertical jump Broad jump Bench press
6 ft 1 in
(1.85 m) 		202 lb
(92 kg) 		4.63 s 1.56 s 2.69 s 4.19 s 6.94 s 34+1⁄2 in
(0.88 m)		 10 ft 5 in
(3.18 m)		 13 reps
All values from NFL Combine and Pro Day[5]

Hill was not selected in the 2011 NFL Draft. Hill later signed with the Arizona Rattlers of the Arena Football League (AFL).[6]

New York Giants

On May 14, 2012, Hill was signed by the New York Giants. He was eventually activated to their active roster.[7] On June 2, 2014, Hill was waived by the Giants.[8]

Baltimore Ravens

It was reported on July 25, 2014 that the Baltimore Ravens signed Hill after former Giants teammate Aaron Ross was injured in training camp and lost for the entire 2014 season. On November 24, 2014, in Week 12 against the New Orleans Saints, Hill intercepted quarterback Drew Brees and returned it 44 yards for a touchdown. The Ravens won 34–27.

On August 27, 2015, the Ravens signed him to a two-year contract extension worth roughly $7 million.[9] On November 30, 2015, in Week 12, Hill recovered a potential game-winning field goal blocked by defensive end Brent Urban as time expired and returned it for a game-winning touchdown against the Cleveland Browns.[10] Hill was named the AFC Special Teams Player of the Week in recognition of his successful performance.[11]

On March 16, 2016, the Ravens released Hill upon learning that he had failed a drug test and would be suspended ten games.[12]

Hamilton Tiger-Cats

On May 9, 2017, Hill signed with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats of the Canadian Football League (CFL). In the season opening loss to the Toronto Argonauts, Hill blocked a pair of field goals, one of which was returned for a touchdown by teammate Richard Leonard.[13] In his second game with the team, Hill was ejected for grabbing a referee by his uniform after disputing a call on the field. He was subsequently suspended for one game by the league. Hill was also issued a fine for punching a Saskatchewan player in a separate incident on the same play.[14] On August 10, 2017 Hill was released by the Tiger-Cats who were 0–6 at the time, citing character concerns.[15] Hill appeared in 5 games for the Ti-Cats and contributed 25 defensive tackles, one tackle on special teams, one quarterback sack, and two blocked field goals.

Orlando Apollos

In 2018, Hill signed with the Orlando Apollos of the Alliance of American Football for the 2019 season.[16] The league ceased operations in April 2019.[17] In 8 games, Hill made 35 tackles, one sack, and one interception.[18]

St. Louis BattleHawks

In October 2019, Hill was drafted by the St. Louis BattleHawks in the 2020 XFL Draft.[19] During the 5 game shorted season due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Will had 33 tackles and 2 interceptions,.[20] Hill was named to both the XFL mid-season awards,[21] and was rated as one of the top graded defensive backs by Pro Football Focus.[22] He had his contract terminated when the league suspended operations on April 10, 2020.[23]

Arlington Renegades

On November 16, 2022, Hill was drafted by the Arlington Renegades in the 2022 XFL Draft. He was drafted 22nd overall in the Defensive Backs phase of the draft.[24]

References

  1. ^ "Scout.com Stats". Recruiting.scout.com. Retrieved March 19, 2012.
  2. ^ Will Hill (October 10, 2010). "ESPN.com Stats". Insider.espn.go.com. Retrieved March 19, 2012.
  3. ^ "Hudson County Track Coaches Association".
  4. ^ "2008 SEC Football All-Freshman Team Announced". Secsports.com. Retrieved March 19, 2012.
  5. ^ http://www.nfldraftscout.com/ratings/dsprofile.php?pyid=83020&draftyear=2011&genpos=FS [bare URL]
  6. ^ http://azrattlers.com/2011/09/28/rattlers-sign-db-will-hill-db-arkeith-brown-and-db-da’mon-merkerson/ [dead link‍]
  7. ^ "New York Giants activate Will Hill, place Michael Coe on IR". National Football League. November 10, 2012. Retrieved November 10, 2012.
  8. ^ Graziano, Dan (June 2, 2014). "Giants waive Will Hill". ESPN. Retrieved October 24, 2014.
  9. ^ Hensley, Jamison (August 27, 2015). "Will Hill re-ups with Baltimore". ESPN.com. Retrieved December 13, 2015.
  10. ^ "Kick six on last play of game gives Ravens stunning win over Browns". The Guardian. December 1, 2015. Retrieved December 1, 2015.
  11. ^ "Ravens' Will Hill wins AFC Special Teams Player of the Week award". baltimoresun.com. Retrieved December 3, 2015.
  12. ^ Patra, Kevin (March 16, 2016). "Will Hill facing 10-game suspension for drug violation". NFL.com. Retrieved March 16, 2016.
  13. ^ "Ray shreds Ticats for over 500 yards passing as Argos take opener at BMO". June 25, 2017.
  14. ^ "CFL fines, suspends Hamilton's Hill for separate incidents in loss to Riders". National Post. July 11, 2017. Retrieved July 11, 2017.
  15. ^ "Ticats release DB Hill, cite character concerns – Article – TSN". TSN. August 10, 2017. Retrieved August 11, 2017.
  16. ^ Romero, Iliana Limon; Parry, Roy. "Orlando Apollos unveil debut uniforms, land QB Garrett Gilbert". OrlandoSentinel.com. Retrieved December 11, 2018.
  17. ^ Michael Rothstein, Seth Wickersham (June 13, 2019). "Inside the short, unhappy life of the Alliance of American Football". ESPN.com. Retrieved September 12, 2019.
  18. ^ "Will Hill III".
  19. ^ Bender, Bill (October 21, 2019). "XFL Draft picks 2019: Complete results, rosters, players for new football league". Sporting News. Retrieved October 23, 2019.
  20. ^ "XFL Live Stats".
  21. ^ "All-XFL Midseason Team".
  22. ^ @XFL2023 (April 8, 2020). "The grades are in. ⁣⁣Take a look at the highest-graded players of the season according to @PFF" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  23. ^ Condotta, Bob (April 10, 2020). "XFL suspends operations, terminates all employees, but Jim Zorn says he has hopes league will continue". SeattleTimes.com. Retrieved July 17, 2020.
  24. ^ "When there's a Will (Hill), there's a way. Welcome back to the league, @WillThrill25!". Twitter. Retrieved November 16, 2022.
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