King Hill

Stuart King Hill (November 8, 1936 – July 14, 2012) was an American football quarterback and punter in the National Football League (NFL) who played for the Chicago / St. Louis Cardinals, Philadelphia Eagles, and Minnesota Vikings.

After attending Brazosport High School in Freeport, Texas, Hill went to Rice Institute in Houston, splitting time as quarterback of the Owls with Frank Ryan, who also later played in the NFL.

Hill was an AP All-American in 1957.

That year, on November 16, the Owls engineered one of the biggest victories in program history.

Facing #1 ranked Texas A&M, who had not lost in 18 games, Hill (playing the majority of the game when Ryan sprained his knee early), served as punter on booming punts and intercepted two passes as a safety in the fourth quarter and made a touchdown-saving tackle on John David Crow (winner of the Heisman Trophy that year) as Rice held on to win 7–6.

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Hill was the first player selected in the 1958 NFL draft by the Chicago Cardinals.

As the Cardinals were the only team remaining who had not been awarded the "bonus pick" as determined by lottery, they had the pick along with the second overall pick.

They picked Hill with the first pick and John David Crow with the second in a draft that had four future Pro Bowlers in the first five picks.

Hill threw nine passes in his rookie season, with two being for interceptions.

He had his best season in rushing in 1959, where he scored five touchdowns on 39 carries for 167 yards, although it also involved a league-leading 13 fumbles.

Quarterbacking the Cardinals was no better for Hill when he started.

He served as the starter for ten games of the 1959 season.

He started on Opening Day against Washington, going 14-of-23 for 229 yards with two touchdowns and one interception to go with a rushing touchdown in the 49-21 victory.

It was the first of only two victories that season for Hill, who threw for 1,015 yards on 7 touchdowns to 13 interceptions.

He started the first game of the 1960 season and threw 8-of-18 for 98 yards with a touchdown and two interceptions before being taken out for John Roach, who threw four touchdowns in the 43-21 victory.

He threw just 37 more passes that year, his last for the team.

Eventually he became a bigger role in punting, going from doing it eight combined times in his first three seasons to punting 55 times for 2,403 yards in 1961.

Hill moved to the Philadelphia Eagles in 1961, where he served as a backup for eight season that started 18 total games while being used mostly as a punter; his best season as a punter came in 1963 with 69 punts for 2,972 yards for a 43.1 average.

He started six games as quarterback that year as well, going 1-4-1.

He played with both the Eagles and the Minnesota Vikings in 1968, starting in two games for the Eagles.

Hill signed the first collective bargaining agreement in professional football and represented players for the Players Association for nine years during the 1968 strike.

He closed out his career with St. Louis in 1969.

He punted 73 times for 2,747 yards while seeing a punt blocked versus Philadelphia, the first and only punt blocked in his career.

He threw one final pass that year, a completion for seven yards versus Chicago.

Hill was also a key figure in the NFL Players Association.

Hill was hired to serve as an assistant on the Houston Oilers for the 1972 season, as coached by Bill Peterson.

You don’t need to raise your voice when you know what you’re talking about.” The Oilers made the postseason each time from 1978–1980 (bolstered by the offense of players such as Earl Campbell) but could not reach the Super Bowl.

Hill worked for the team until 1980, with the best days coming under Bum Phillips, who rose from defensive coordinator in 1974 to head coach the following year.

Hill worked with the offense for his last five years, with two as the offensive coordinator.

Phillips described Hill as such: “King was different from almost anybody I’ve ever worked with.

He was the most polite, gentle man.

And, [on the] football field, he was polite but direct.

When he said something, he meant it.

He was the ideal guy to have on your staff.

[Coaching] wasn’t work to him.

He really enjoyed it.

He could communicate without all that hollering.

It propelled the Owls to the Southwest Conference title (their last until 1994) and they played in the Cotton Bowl on New Year's Day.

He also played on the golf team for the program.