Nick Hill
Encyclopedia
Nick Hill is an Arena football
Quarterback
for the Tampa Bay Storm
of the Arena Football League
. He has also played in af2
for the Rio Grande Valley Dorados
. He was signed by the Chicago Bears
as an undrafted free agent in 2008. He played college football
at Southern Illinois.
. He played basketball
as well. As a junior
, he was a First-team All-State selection in basketball, averaging 26.7 points, 6.0 rebounds
and 2.4 assists
. As a senior
, he was a First-team All-State selection again after averaging 22.7 points, 7.7 rebounds, 5.7 assists and 3.0 steals
. In football, he was a First-team All-State and First-team All-Conference selection after passing for 1,451 yards, 19 touchdown
s and one interception, and also rushing for 543 yards, and 11 touchdowns. He beacme the school's first 4,000-career yard passer in 35 years, the first since former major league
pitcher
Don Stanhouse
in 1968.
where he played on the basketball
team and averaged 1.7 points-per-game in 23 games. He then transferred to Southern Illinois University
where he was three-year letterman and two-year starter.
Hill redshirted
during his first season at Southern Illinois after transferring from Western Kentucky. As a redshirt sophomore, he played in four games, completing 16-of-20 passes for 288 yards and three touchdowns. He also rushed the ball nine times for 102 yards and one touchdown. As a junior, he started all 13 games, and ranked second in the conference and seventh in the nation in passing efficiency (156.7). He completed 121-of-196 passes (61.7%) for 1,721 yards, 15 touchdowns and four interceptions. He was the team’s third-leading rusher with 91 carries for 382 yards and six touchdowns. He was a First-team Gateway Conference All-Academic and CoSIDA/ESPN The Magazine
Academic All-District V. As a senior, he led the conference in passing yards-per-game with 226.8, total offense with 252.3 and ranked second in passing efficiency (167.1), which was also third in the nation. He set school single season records in passing; yards (3,175), touchdowns (28), completions (258) and attempts (361). He was named a First-team All-Conference, Gateway All-Academic and Sports Network All-America honorable mention. He was honored as Gateway Offensive Player of the Week, twice, and College Sporting News Offensive Player of the Week, once. He finished sixth in the voting for the Walter Payton Award
, given to the top player in the Football Championship Subdivision. He also set a school single-game record with 436 passing yards at Northern Iowa
, and passed for 200 yards or more in nine games. He ranked second on the team with 121 carries for 357 yards and four touchdowns. For his career, Hill completed 394-of-577 passes (68.3%) for 5,184 yards, 46 touchdowns and 11 interceptions, while rushing 221 times for 841 yards (3.8 avg) and 11 touchdowns. He led Southern Illinoi to a 21-6 record as a starter
. He also played in the Texas vs. The Nation All-Star Bowl
. While in college, he majored
in Special Education
.
, however on April 27, 2008, Hill signed a three-year contract as an undrafted free agent with the Chicago Bears
. He was then waived by the team on July 29.
in 2008
, Hill joined af2
, a professional arena football
league. On January 15, 2009 he was assigned to the Rio Grande Valley Dorados
.
for the 2010 AFL season. He would become the starter midway through the season, and be the starter for the entire 2011 season. He will join the Tampa Bay Storm
in 2012.
Arena football
Arena football is a variety of gridiron football played by the Arena Football League . It is a proprietary game, the rights to which are owned by Gridiron Enterprises, and is played indoors on a smaller field than American or Canadian outdoor football, resulting in a faster and higher-scoring game....
Quarterback
Quarterback
Quarterback is a position in American and Canadian football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive team and line up directly behind the offensive line...
for the Tampa Bay Storm
Tampa Bay Storm
The Tampa Bay Storm are an Arena Football League team based in the Tampa Bay Area of Florida. They play their home games in the St. Pete Times Forum in Tampa....
of the Arena Football League
Arena Football League
The Arena Football League is the highest level of professional indoor American football in the United States. It is currently the second longest running professional football league in the United States, after the National Football League. It was founded in 1987 by Jim Foster...
. He has also played in af2
Af2
AF2 was the name of the Arena Football League's developmental league; it was founded in 1999 and played its first season in 2000. Like parent AFL, the AF2 played using the same arena football rules and style of play. League seasons ran from April through July with the postseason and ArenaCup...
for the Rio Grande Valley Dorados
Rio Grande Valley Dorados
The Rio Grande Valley Dorados were a professional arena football team. They began play in 2004 as an expansion member of af2, the minor league to the Arena Football League...
. He was signed by the Chicago Bears
Chicago Bears
The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago, Illinois. They are members of the North Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League...
as an undrafted free agent in 2008. He played college football
College football
College football refers to American football played by teams of student athletes fielded by American universities, colleges, and military academies, or Canadian football played by teams of student athletes fielded by Canadian universities...
at Southern Illinois.
High school career
Hill attended DuQuoin High School where he was a three-year starter in footballHigh school football
High school football, in North America, refers to the game of football as it is played in the United States and Canada. It ranks among the most popular interscholastic sports in both of these nations....
. He played basketball
Basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...
as well. As a junior
Eleventh grade
Eleventh Grade is the eleventh, and for some countries final, grade of secondary schools. Students are typically 16 or 17 years of age, depending on the country and the students' birthdays.-Brazil:...
, he was a First-team All-State selection in basketball, averaging 26.7 points, 6.0 rebounds
Rebound (basketball)
A rebound in basketball is the act of successfully gaining possession of the basketball after a missed field goal or free throw. Rebounds in basketball are a routine part in the game, as all possessions change after a shot is successfully made...
and 2.4 assists
Assist (basketball)
In basketball, an assist is attributed to a player who passes the ball to a teammate in a way that leads to a score by field goal, meaning that he or she was "assisting" in the basket. There is some judgment involved in deciding whether a passer should be credited with an assist...
. As a senior
Twelfth grade
Twelfth grade or Senior year, or Grade Twelve, are the North American names for the final year of secondary school. In most countries students then graduate at age 17 or 18. In some countries, there is a thirteenth grade, while other countries do not have a 12th grade/year at all...
, he was a First-team All-State selection again after averaging 22.7 points, 7.7 rebounds, 5.7 assists and 3.0 steals
Steal (basketball)
In basketball, a steal occurs when a defensive player legally causes a turnover by his positive, aggressive action. This can be done by deflecting and controlling, catching, or batting to a teammate a pass or dribble of an offensive player...
. In football, he was a First-team All-State and First-team All-Conference selection after passing for 1,451 yards, 19 touchdown
Touchdown
A touchdown is a means of scoring in American and Canadian football. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchdown by advancing the ball into the opponent's end zone.-Description:...
s and one interception, and also rushing for 543 yards, and 11 touchdowns. He beacme the school's first 4,000-career yard passer in 35 years, the first since former major league
Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball is the highest level of professional baseball in the United States and Canada, consisting of teams that play in the National League and the American League...
pitcher
Pitcher
In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throwsthe baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw a walk. In the numbering system used to record defensive plays, the...
Don Stanhouse
Don Stanhouse
Donald Joseph Stanhouse is a retired baseball pitcher who had a ten-year major league career from 1972–1980, 1982...
in 1968.
College career
Hill originally attended Western Kentucky UniversityWestern Kentucky University
Western Kentucky University is a public university in Bowling Green, Kentucky, USA. It was formally founded by the Commonwealth of Kentucky in 1906, though its roots reach back a quarter-century earlier....
where he played on the basketball
Western Kentucky Hilltoppers basketball
The Western Kentucky Hilltoppers Basketball team is the men's basketball team that represents WKU in Bowling Green, Kentucky. The Hilltoppers currently compete in the Sun Belt Conference. The team's most recent appearance in the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament was in 2009...
team and averaged 1.7 points-per-game in 23 games. He then transferred to Southern Illinois University
Southern Illinois University
Southern Illinois University is a state university system based in Carbondale, Illinois, in the Southern Illinois region of the state, with multiple campuses...
where he was three-year letterman and two-year starter.
Hill redshirted
Redshirt (college sports)
Redshirt is a term used in American college athletics that refers to a delay or suspension of an athlete's participation in order to lengthen his or her period of eligibility...
during his first season at Southern Illinois after transferring from Western Kentucky. As a redshirt sophomore, he played in four games, completing 16-of-20 passes for 288 yards and three touchdowns. He also rushed the ball nine times for 102 yards and one touchdown. As a junior, he started all 13 games, and ranked second in the conference and seventh in the nation in passing efficiency (156.7). He completed 121-of-196 passes (61.7%) for 1,721 yards, 15 touchdowns and four interceptions. He was the team’s third-leading rusher with 91 carries for 382 yards and six touchdowns. He was a First-team Gateway Conference All-Academic and CoSIDA/ESPN The Magazine
ESPN The Magazine
ESPN The Magazine is a bi-weekly sports magazine published by the ESPN sports network in Bristol, Connecticut in the United States. The first issue was published on March 11, 1998....
Academic All-District V. As a senior, he led the conference in passing yards-per-game with 226.8, total offense with 252.3 and ranked second in passing efficiency (167.1), which was also third in the nation. He set school single season records in passing; yards (3,175), touchdowns (28), completions (258) and attempts (361). He was named a First-team All-Conference, Gateway All-Academic and Sports Network All-America honorable mention. He was honored as Gateway Offensive Player of the Week, twice, and College Sporting News Offensive Player of the Week, once. He finished sixth in the voting for the Walter Payton Award
Walter Payton Award
The Walter Payton Award is awarded annually to the most outstanding offensive player in the Division I Football Championship Subdivision of college football as chosen by a nationwide panel of media and college sports information directors...
, given to the top player in the Football Championship Subdivision. He also set a school single-game record with 436 passing yards at Northern Iowa
Northern Iowa Panthers football
The first year of Northern Iowa Panthers football was in 1895. They have fielded a football team every year since then with the exceptions of 1906-1907 and 1943-1944...
, and passed for 200 yards or more in nine games. He ranked second on the team with 121 carries for 357 yards and four touchdowns. For his career, Hill completed 394-of-577 passes (68.3%) for 5,184 yards, 46 touchdowns and 11 interceptions, while rushing 221 times for 841 yards (3.8 avg) and 11 touchdowns. He led Southern Illinoi to a 21-6 record as a starter
Starting lineup
A starting lineup in sports is an official list of the set of players who will actively participate in the event when the game begins. The players in the starting lineup are commonly referred to as starters, whereas the others are substitutes or bench players.The starters are commonly the best...
. He also played in the Texas vs. The Nation All-Star Bowl
Texas vs. The Nation Game
The NFLPA Game is a post-season college football all-star game that was established in 2006 as the concluding game of the college football post-season. The game is currently played at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas. The game was previously known as the Texas vs...
. While in college, he majored
Academic major
In the United States and Canada, an academic major or major concentration is the academic discipline to which an undergraduate student formally commits....
in Special Education
Special education
Special education is the education of students with special needs in a way that addresses the students' individual differences and needs. Ideally, this process involves the individually planned and systematically monitored arrangement of teaching procedures, adapted equipment and materials,...
.
National Football League
Hill went unselected in the 2008 NFL Draft2008 NFL Draft
The 2008 NFL Draft took place at Radio City Music Hall in New York City on April 26 and April 27, 2008. For the 29th consecutive year, ESPN televised the draft; the NFL Network also broadcast the event, its third year doing so...
, however on April 27, 2008, Hill signed a three-year contract as an undrafted free agent with the Chicago Bears
Chicago Bears
The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago, Illinois. They are members of the North Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League...
. He was then waived by the team on July 29.
af2
After not playing in the National Football LeagueNational Football League
The National Football League is the highest level of professional American football in the United States, and is considered the top professional American football league in the world. It was formed by eleven teams in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association, with the league changing...
in 2008
2008 NFL season
The 2008 NFL season was the 89th regular season of the National Football League, themed with the slogan "Believe in Now."Super Bowl XLIII, the league's championship game, was at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida on February 1, 2009, with the Pittsburgh Steelers coming out victorious over the...
, Hill joined af2
Af2
AF2 was the name of the Arena Football League's developmental league; it was founded in 1999 and played its first season in 2000. Like parent AFL, the AF2 played using the same arena football rules and style of play. League seasons ran from April through July with the postseason and ArenaCup...
, a professional arena football
Arena football
Arena football is a variety of gridiron football played by the Arena Football League . It is a proprietary game, the rights to which are owned by Gridiron Enterprises, and is played indoors on a smaller field than American or Canadian outdoor football, resulting in a faster and higher-scoring game....
league. On January 15, 2009 he was assigned to the Rio Grande Valley Dorados
Rio Grande Valley Dorados
The Rio Grande Valley Dorados were a professional arena football team. They began play in 2004 as an expansion member of af2, the minor league to the Arena Football League...
.
Arena Football League
Hill caught on with the Orlando PredatorsOrlando Predators
The Orlando Predators are an Arena Football League team based in Orlando, Florida that was founded in 1991. Their playoff streak is currently 19 seasons in a row, as of the season, becoming the ArenaBowl champions in 1998 and 2000...
for the 2010 AFL season. He would become the starter midway through the season, and be the starter for the entire 2011 season. He will join the Tampa Bay Storm
Tampa Bay Storm
The Tampa Bay Storm are an Arena Football League team based in the Tampa Bay Area of Florida. They play their home games in the St. Pete Times Forum in Tampa....
in 2012.