Stuart King Hill (November 8, 1936 – July 14, 2012) was an

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

quarterback The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Ame ...

in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

who played for the

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

St. Louis Cardinals The St. Louis Cardinals are an American professional baseball team based in St. Louis. The Cardinals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Since the 2006 season, the Cardinals hav ...

Philadelphia Eagles The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia. The Eagles compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. The team plays ...

, and

Minnesota Vikings The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) North division. Founded in 1960 as an expansion ...

Football career

After attending

Brazosport High School Brazosport High School is a public high school located at the intersection of Brazosport Boulevard and West 2nd Street in Freeport, Texas, United States. It handles grades nine through twelve and is part of the Brazosport Independent School Distr ...

Freeport, Texas Freeport is a city in Brazoria County, Texas, United States, located on the Gulf of Mexico. According to the 2020 census, the city population was 10,696, down from 12,049 in 2010. History Freeport was founded as a European-American settlement i ...

, Hill went to

Rice Institute The International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) is an international agricultural research and training organization with its headquarters in Los Baños, Laguna, in the Philippines, and offices in seventeen countries. IRRI is known for its work ...

Houston Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...

, splitting time as quarterback of the

Owls Owls are birds from the Order (biology), order Strigiformes (), which includes over 200 species of mostly Solitary animal, solitary and Nocturnal animal, nocturnal birds of prey typified by an upright stance, a large, broad head, binocular vi ...

with Frank Ryan, who also later played in the NFL. Hill was an AP

All-America The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed upon an amateur sports person from the United States who is considered to be one of the best amateurs in their sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an All-Am ...

n in

1957 1957 ( MCMLVII) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar, the 1957th year of the Common Era (CE) and ''Anno Domini'' (AD) designations, the 957th year of the 2nd millennium, the 57th year of the 20th century, and the 8th y ...

, led the Owls to the

Southwest Conference The Southwest Conference (SWC) was an NCAA Division I college athletic conference in the United States that existed from 1914 to 1996. Composed primarily of schools from Texas, at various times the conference included schools from Oklahoma an ...

title, and played in the Cotton Bowl on New Year's Day. Hill was the first player selected in the

1958 NFL draft The 1958 National Football League draft had its first four rounds held on December 2, 1957, and its final twenty-six rounds on January 28, 1958. Both sessions were held at the Warwick Hotel in Philadelphia. This was the 12th and final year in ...

and spent over thirty-five years in professional football as a player, coach, and scout, and also as a key figure in the NFL Players Association. Hill served nine years as the players representative and Vice President of the Players Association in 1968 going through the strike and signing the first collective bargaining contract in pro football. Hill's accomplishments in the football community include: * One of the last three sports letterman in major college athletics (football, basketball, and golf). * All-American Football 1957 (quarterback) * Captain 1957 S.W.C. Champions * Played in the Cotton and Hula Bowls in 1958. Captain of the college all-stars beating the world champion Detroit Lions. * First player selected (bonus) NFL draft 1958 by the Cardinals. * Played professional football for Chicago Cardinals, St. Louis Cardinals, Philadelphia Eagles, and the Minnesota Vikings. * Offensive Coordinator for the Houston Oilers (1970–1980) and the New Orleans Saints (1981–1986). * Assisted with the drafting and development of Earl Campbell. * Established rookie NFL rushing record with George Rogers. * Won more games than any team in the NFL during 1978–1980. * Ranked second in total offense AFC in 1980, winning four of seven play-off games. * Director of Scouting Western United States and Canada for the Philadelphia Eagles 1986–1992. * Drafted and Developed play-off teams 1988–1990. * Former member of the NFL Alumni Association.

Golf and charities

Always a skilled golfer, Hill never gave up his amateur status and through the years has participated in hundreds of tournaments, as well as being an active participant in the promotion of charitable golf tournaments in Texas and Louisiana. He also assisted in the founding and working of the Ronald McDonald Houses in Texas and Louisiana. Hill also helped with Big Brothers and other children causes in Texas, including the Special Olympics. His golf team won first place in the NFL Alumni Tournament in 1995 and 2001. He placed second in the tournament in 1996.

Death

Hill died at age 75 in 2012 after a long illness. He is buried at Forest Park Cemetery at The Woodlands.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hill, King 1936 births 2012 deaths American football quarterbacks Chicago Cardinals players Minnesota Vikings players Philadelphia Eagles players Rice Owls football players St. Louis Cardinals (football) players National Football League first-overall draft picks People from Hamilton, Texas Players of American football from Texas