 Hill with Cleveland in 1979 | |||||||||||
| No. 35 | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Position: | Running back | ||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||
| Born: | (1947-01-02)January 2, 1947 (age 78) Baltimore, Maryland, U.S. | ||||||||||
| Height: | 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) | ||||||||||
| Weight: | 227 lb (103 kg) | ||||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||||
| High school: | Riverdale Country (The Bronx, New York) | ||||||||||
| College: | Yale | ||||||||||
| NFL draft: | 1969: 1st round, 24th pick | ||||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||||
| Career highlights and awards | |||||||||||
| Career NFL statistics | |||||||||||
| |||||||||||
Calvin G. Hill (born January 2, 1947) is an American former professionalfootball player who was arunning back in theNational Football League (NFL). He played for theDallas Cowboys,Washington Redskins, andCleveland Browns. He also played a season withThe Hawaiians of theWorld Football League (WFL).
Hill was named to thePro Bowl four times (1969,1972,1973, and1974). In1972, he became the first Cowboy running back to have a 1,000-yard rushing season (with 1,036 yards rushing); he repeated the feat in thefollowing season with 1,142 yards rushing.
Yale University conferred Hill with anhonorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree at its 2016 commencement. "You are a Yale legend" is the opening sentence of the citation honoring Hill.[1]
Hill was born on January 2, 1947, inBaltimore, Maryland. He was awarded a scholarship to attend theRiverdale Country School inThe Bronx,New York before attending ninth grade. At Riverdale, he was an accomplished athlete infootball,basketball,baseball, andtrack and field, often leading teams that defeated athletic arch-rivalHorace Mann School and otherIvy Preparatory School League opponents in the metropolitanNew York City-area.
He was introduced to organized football at Riverdale, where he was named the startingquarterback as a sophomore. From 1963 to 1965 he ran theT formation in a program that was undefeated for eight seasons, 1958 through 1965, and was led by head coach Frank Bertino.[2]
Hill was a highly touted high school football talent and an honors student at the secondary school.[3]
Hill acknowledged a desire to play in a stadium with a large seating capacity, and was impressed by the large crowd, more than 70,000, watching Yale defeatDartmouth 24–15 at theYale Bowl during a visit, October 31, 1964.
The second day of practices at Yale, the coaching staff shifted Hill tolinebacker on the freshman team and gave the quarterback job toBrian Dowling. After four days at linebacker he was moved tohalfback, where he remained.
Hill and Dowling had incomparable on-field chemistry. Dowling could pass, and Hill could run, and both could catch passes.[4] Hill, who threw six halfback option passes for touchdowns at Yale, likened Dowling's athletic virtuosity toJohn Coltrane'smusicality.[5]
Hill and Dowling led the 1968 Yale team to an undefeated season, ending its schedule in a famed29-29 tie atHarvard. During his three years as a starter, the Bulldogs posted records respectively of 4–5, 8-1 and 8–0–1. Hill also playedtight end orlinebacker in some games.
He was a subject, along with Dowling, ofGarry Trudeau's "Bull Tales" cartoons inthe Yale Daily News. "Bull Tales" was the forerunner of thePulitzer Prize winningDoonesbury.[6]
Hill was a sprinter and jumper for the Yale track team. He holds the school record for the outdoortriple jump. He was the 1967 and 1968long jump and triple jump Ivy League Heptagonal Outdoor Track & Field Champion.[7]Hill completed his three-year varsity collegiate athletic career with 2527 all-purpose yards, 1,512 rushing yards from the line of scrimmage, 858 receiving yards, and 298 passing yards.[8] Hill graduated with theYale College Class of 1969. At Yale, he joinedDelta Kappa Epsilon fraternity.[9]
Hill was selected by theDallas Cowboys in the first round (24th overall) of the1969 NFL draft. At the time this selection was widely questioned, because teams did not think they could find professional players at elite colleges.[10]
The Cowboys drafted him as an athlete, so he spent his first few days in training camp as alinebacker andtight end.[11] He got his chance at playing halfback in the second exhibition game, because the team was experiencing problems atrunning back during that training camp.Don Perkins, the fourth leading rusher in NFL history had just formally announced his retirement,Dan Reeves the starter at halfback was struggling after having off-season knee surgery and his backupCraig Baynham had bruised ribs. Hill never relinquished the starting job and when the regular season started, even though he was a rookie, he became a dominant player in the league. Through the first nine games of the season, he was the best running back in the NFL with 807 rushing yards. However, he hurt his toe while rushing for a team record 150 yards in a 41–28 victory over theWashington Redskins in the ninth game of the season. The team didn't know the extent of the injury, so he missed the next 2 games. When it was later revealed that it was broken, Hill played the last 2 games with a broken toe that required an injection before every practice and game.
Hill finished his rookie season with 942 rushing yards (4.6 yard average) and 8touchdowns. He also receivedNFL Offensive Rookie of the Year,All-Pro andPro Bowl honors.[12]
The Cowboys selectedDuane Thomas in the first round of the1970 NFL draft, because the team was not confident that Hill had recovered during the off season. He also had complications from an infected blister in the same foot that kept him in the hospital for more than a month. Nine games into the1970 season, he suffered a back injury and didn't play much the rest of the year, finishing with 577 rushing yards while averaging 3.8 yards per carry.
In1971, he suffered a torn anterior cruciate ligament against theNew York Giants, that was initially diagnosed as a sprained knee. He missed six games and tried to play again in theNFC Championship, but hurt his knee again scoring a touchdown.[13]
In1972, after the Cowboys traded Thomas to theSan Diego Chargers, Hill became the first running back in franchise history to surpass the 1,000 yard mark and proved he could still run the football. He finished with 1,045 yards and a 4.2 yard average and six touchdowns. He also set a club record for receptions by a running back with 43. In1973, he broke his own team record with 1,142 yards and six touchdowns.
Hill played in Dallas for six seasons, helping the Cowboys winSuper Bowl VI and 2NFC titles. He had some superb years with the team, making four Pro Bowls (1969,1972,1973,1974) and two All-Pro teams (1969,1973).
In March1974, he was selected byThe Hawaiians in the second round (14th overall) of theWFL Pro Draft. On April 9, Hill signed a contract withThe Hawaiians of theWorld Football League,[14] but played in Dallas in1974. He played in three WFL games in1975, carrying the ball 49 times for 218 yards and no touchdowns, before suffering a tornmedial collateral ligament in his right knee.[15] When the league folded, he returned to the NFL.
On April 3,1976, Hill signed as afree agent with theWashington Redskins,[16][17] but he could not recapture his previous playing level. In two seasons as a backup running back, he rushed for 558 yards and caught 25 passes, before announcing his retirement on August 7,1978.[18]
TheCleveland Browns convinced him to unretire and signed him to a contract on September 25,1978.[19] He played four seasons mostly as a third-down running back, before retiring at the end of the1981 season.[20]
Hill played in theNFL for 12 seasons, recording 6,083 rushing yards, 42 rushing touchdowns, 2,861 receiving yards and 23 receiving touchdowns.
| Legend | |
|---|---|
| Super Bowl champion | |
| Bold | Career high |
| Year | Team | Games | Rushing | Receiving | Fumbles | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GP | GS | Att | Yds | Avg | Y/G | Lng | TD | Rec | Yds | Avg | Lng | TD | Fum | FR | ||
| 1969 | DAL | 13 | 13 | 204 | 942 | 4.6 | 72.5 | 55 | 8 | 20 | 232 | 11.6 | 28 | 0 | 7 | 2 |
| 1970 | DAL | 12 | 9 | 153 | 577 | 3.8 | 48.1 | 20 | 4 | 13 | 95 | 7.3 | 21 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| 1971 | DAL | 8 | 7 | 106 | 468 | 4.4 | 58.5 | 17 | 8 | 19 | 244 | 12.8 | 27 | 3 | 2 | 0 |
| 1972 | DAL | 14 | 14 | 245 | 1,036 | 4.2 | 74.0 | 26 | 6 | 43 | 364 | 8.5 | 33 | 3 | 7 | 0 |
| 1973 | DAL | 14 | 14 | 273 | 1,142 | 4.2 | 81.6 | 21 | 6 | 32 | 290 | 9.1 | 29 | 0 | 7 | 3 |
| 1974 | DAL | 12 | 12 | 185 | 844 | 4.6 | 70.3 | 27 | 7 | 12 | 134 | 11.2 | 39 | 0 | 5 | 0 |
| 1976 | WAS | 14 | 2 | 79 | 301 | 3.8 | 21.5 | 15 | 1 | 7 | 100 | 14.3 | 23 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| 1977 | WAS | 14 | 1 | 69 | 257 | 3.7 | 18.4 | 34 | 0 | 18 | 154 | 8.6 | 23 | 1 | 3 | 1 |
| 1978 | CLE | 12 | 1 | 80 | 289 | 3.6 | 24.1 | 21 | 1 | 25 | 334 | 13.4 | 53 | 6 | 2 | 0 |
| 1979 | CLE | 14 | 7 | 53 | 193 | 3.6 | 13.8 | 33 | 1 | 38 | 381 | 10.0 | 31 | 2 | 1 | 0 |
| 1980 | CLE | 15 | 0 | 1 | 11 | 11.0 | 11.0 | 11 | 0 | 27 | 383 | 14.2 | 50 | 6 | – | – |
| 1981 | CLE | 14 | 0 | 4 | 23 | 5.8 | 1.6 | 9 | 0 | 17 | 150 | 8.8 | 23 | 2 | 1 | 0 |
| Career | 156 | 80 | 1,452 | 6,083 | 4.2 | 39.0 | 55 | 42 | 271 | 2,861 | 10.6 | 53 | 23 | 43 | 6 | |
Hill's wife, Janet, was a graduate ofWellesley College, where she was friends withHillary Rodham Clinton. They are the parents of retiredNBA playerGrant Hill. Hill was the 1969 NFL Rookie of the Year. Twenty six years later, his son, Grant, shared the 1995 NBA Rookie of the Year award withJason Kidd.
In 1987, Baltimore Orioles ownerEdward Bennett Williams appointed Hill to the team's board of directors.[21] The following year, he was named vice president for personnel and served in that capacity until 1994.[22]
Hill currently sits on the boards of several organizations, works as a corporate motivational speaker, and works for the Dallas Cowboys organization as a consultant who specializes in working with troubled players. Additionally, Hill is a consultant to the Cleveland Browns Football Club and Alexander & Associates, Inc., a Washington, D.C. corporate consulting firm. As a consultant with the Cleveland Browns, he helped form a group of Cleveland Browns' players to control and eliminate drug and alcohol-related problems. Hill has written several articles on sports and academia for national publications, makes appearances at university campuses and business firms, throughout the United States. He addresses several topics including the problem of drugs and alcohol and the work needed in this area, and the important relationship of sports and academia.[23]
The Calvin Hill Day Care Center in New Haven was founded by fellowBaltimore, Maryland-nativeKurt Schmoke among other undergraduates in 1970 and is named in his honor. It is available to Yale University families from all economic levels.[24]
On May 23, 2016, Hill received anhonorary doctorate from Yale University.[25]