Mack Lee Hill
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Mack Lee Hill (August 17, 1940 – December 14, 1965) 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 wi ...
player, a
running back A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive handoffs from the quarterback to rush the ball, to line up as a receiver to catch the ball, and block. Ther ...
at Southern University and for the American Football League's
Kansas City Chiefs The Kansas City Chiefs are a professional American football team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Chiefs compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The ...
. He died suddenly after undergoing knee surgery, two days after a game against the Buffalo Bills.


Career

Born and raised in
Quincy, Florida Quincy is a city in and the county seat of Gadsden County, Florida, United States. The population was 7,972 at the 2010 census, up from 6,982 at the 2000 census. Quincy is part of the Tallahassee metropolitan area. History Established in 1828 ...
, Hill made the Chiefs' roster in
1964 Events January * January 1 – The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland is dissolved. * January 5 - In the first meeting between leaders of the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches since the fifteenth century, Pope Paul VI and Patriarc ...
as a rookie free agent out of Southern University in Baton Rouge, signing for only $300, with an agreement he would only be paid if he made the lineup. He wound up as the team's second-leading rusher that season with 567 yards and four touchdowns on 105 carries. Hill played in the
AFL All-Star Game The American Football League All-Star game was the annual game which featured each year's best performers in the American Football League (AFL). The game was first played in 1961 and the final AFL All-Star game occurred in 1969, prior to the leagu ...
after his rookie campaign. He gained 627 yards, second-most on the team, in 1965, even though he did not complete the season, dying in knee surgery after the 12th game. He was nicknamed "The Truck."


Death

Hill tore a ligament in his right knee in a regular season game against the Bills on December 12, forcing him to undergo season-ending surgery on that knee two days later at Menorah Medical Center in Kansas City. He was still on the operating table when his temperature suddenly spiked to , triggering severe convulsions, and he died hours after surgery. Doctors said he suffered a "sudden and massive
embolism An embolism is the lodging of an embolus, a blockage-causing piece of material, inside a blood vessel. The embolus may be a blood clot (thrombus), a fat globule (fat embolism), a bubble of air or other gas ( gas embolism), amniotic fluid (am ...
." Team doctor Albert R. Miller said the embolism could have been caused by a fat globule breaking off and entering the bloodstream, or it could have been triggered by a severe reaction to the anesthesia. Head coach
Hank Stram Henry Louis Stram (; January 3, 1923 – July 4, 2005) was an American football coach. He is best known for his 15-year tenure with the Dallas Texans / Kansas City Chiefs of the American Football League (AFL) and National Football League (NF ...
said, "Mack Lee Hill was a fine gentleman and a great football player. He was probably one of the most unselfish players I have ever coached. He was completely dedicated to the team. Football was his life." Through Hill's inspiration, the Chiefs created the Mack Lee Hill Award, which is given each season to the team's most outstanding rookie. His No. 36 jersey has been
retired Retirement is the withdrawal from one's position or occupation or from one's active working life. A person may also semi-retire by reducing work hours or workload. Many people choose to retire when they are elderly or incapable of doing their j ...
. Hill had one son.


See also

*
List of American Football League players The following is a list of men who played for the American Football League (AFL, 1960–1969). Players A B C D Elbert Dubenion E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W Y Z Notes Player notes 1,398 ...
*
List of American football players who died during their career This is a list of players of American football who died while still on a team roster. Included are players in professional and college football who have died of any cause. For professional football players, the most common cause of death is vehic ...


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hill, Mack Lee 1940 births 1965 deaths American football fullbacks African-American players of American football Southern Jaguars football players Players of American football from Florida People from Quincy, Florida Kansas City Chiefs players American Football League All-Star players Deaths from embolism American Football League players 20th-century African-American sportspeople National Football League players with retired numbers