Harlon Hill

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Harlon Hill
Harlon Hill - 1955 Bowman.jpg
Hill on a Bowman Card (1955)
Positions:
End , DB 		Jersey numbers:
87, 82
born May 5, 1935 in Killen , Alabama
died on March 21, 2013 in Florence , Alabama
Career information
Active : 1954 - 1962
NFL Draft : 1954 / Round: 15 / Pick: 174
College : Florence State Teachers College
Teams
Career statistics
Games     103
Touchdowns     40
Interceptions     3
Stats at pro-football-reference.com
Career highlights and awards

Harlon Junious Hill (born May 5, 1935 in Killen , Alabama , † March 21, 2013 in Florence , Alabama) was an American American football player. He played end and defensive back in the National Football League (NFL).

Player career

College career

Harlon Hill studied teaching at Florence State Teachers College from 1950 to 1953 . During his student days he also ran for his college football team and was team captain in 1952 and 1953 . Because of his athletic achievements, he was voted All-American in 1953 . Since his team operated in a lower class college league, he was not particularly noticed by the NFL scouts , which initially opposed a successful professional career.

Professional career

Due to its low profile, Hill was selected in 1954 only in the 15th round in 174th place in the NFL Draft by the Chicago Bears trained by George Halas . Already in his rookie year as a professional football player, he attracted attention nationwide. That year he caught twelve passes from his quarterbacks George Blanda and Zeke Bratkowski , which he could use for touchdowns . This performance was a league record. Also in the following year he achieved the league record with nine captured touchdowns. In 1956, Paddy Driscoll took over as coach for the Chicago team . The Bears won nine of twelve games in this game round and moved into the NFL final with this performance . Although Harlon Hill was able to catch six passes in the final for a space gain of 87 yards , the New York Giants went 47: 7 as the winner.

Hill's performance deteriorated after the 1956 season, with a serious injury in 1957. Hill also had problems with alcohol. In the offense of the team, he received little time, but was increasingly used in defense as a defensive back . 1962 ended his career in Chicago, the Bears gave him to the Pittsburgh Steelers , who sent him to the Detroit Lions after only seven games in the same game year . After an unsuccessful playing year in Detroit , Hill retired.

After the playing career

Harlon Hill had already completed his teaching degree with a Bachelor of Education in 1955 during his professional time . He successfully fought his alcohol addiction. Hill returned to Alabama and became a teacher there. In 1969 he was awarded a Masters by his college . In 1986 he established the Harlon Hill Trophy , which is awarded annually to the best football player on a college team from the NCAA Division II .

Honors

Harlon Hill played in the Pro Bowl three times and was voted All-Pro three times . In 1955, he was voted NFL Most Valuable Player . He is a member of the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame and the University of North Alabama Athletic Hall of Fame. The Chicago Bears honor him at the Chicago Bears Ring of Honor . The City of Florence honors him on the City of Florence Walk of Honor. Harlon Hill is buried in the Tri-Cities Memorial Gardens in his hometown of Florence.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Harlon Hill dies; all-pro receiver with Chicago Bears. Retrieved September 2, 2018 .
  2. ↑ 1956 Chicago Bears Statistics & Players | Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved September 2, 2018 .
  3. ↑ Championship - Chicago Bears at New York Giants - December 30th, 1956 | Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved September 2, 2018 .
  4. ↑ Honoring Harlon Hill on the City of Florence Walk of Honor ( Memento of the original from May 11, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.florenceal.org
  5. ↑ Harlon Junious Hill (1932-2013) - Find A Grave ... Retrieved September 2, 2018 .

source

  • Jens Plassmann: NFL - American Football. The game, the stars, the stories (= Rororo 9445 rororo Sport ). Rowohlt, Reinbek near Hamburg 1995, ISBN 3-499-19445-7 .
personal data
SURNAME Hill, Harlon
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Hill, Harlon Junious
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American football player
DATE OF BIRTH May 5, 1935
PLACE OF BIRTH Killen , Alabama
DATE OF DEATH 21st March 2013
Place of death Florence , Alabama