Halfback, Dallas
Cowboys
Age: 22
College: Yale
Height: 6’3” Weight: 230
Prelude:
Originally
recruited by Yale to play quarterback, Hill was briefly shifted to linebacker
and then halfback. He received first-team All-Ivy League honors as a junior and
senior as Yale won conference titles in each season. Hill was chosen by the
Cowboys in the first round of the 1969 NFL draft (24th overall).
1969 Season Summary
Appeared in 13
of 14 games
[Bracketed
numbers indicate league rank in Top 20]
Rushing
Attempts – 204
[3]
Most
attempts, game - 27 (for 150 yds.) at Washington 11/16
Yards – 942 [2]
Most yards,
game – 150 yards (on 27 carries) at Washington 11/16
Average gain
– 4.6 [5, tied with Walt Garrison & Dave Hampton]
TDs – 8 [3,
tied with Gale Sayers]
100-yard
rushing games – 3
Pass
Receiving
Receptions – 20
Most
receptions, game – 3 (for 71 yds.) at Philadelphia 10/5, (for 21 yds.) at
Atlanta 10/12
Yards – 232
Most yards,
game - 71 (on 3 catches) at Philadelphia 10/5
Average gain
– 11.6
TDs – 0
Passing
Attempts – 3
Completions –
3
Yards – 137
TDs – 2
Kickoff
Returns
Returns – 4
Yards – 125
Average per
return – 31.3
TDs – 0
Longest
return – 46 yards
All-Purpose
Yards – 1299 [6]
Scoring
TDs – 8 [15,
tied with five others]
Points – 48
Postseason: 1 G (Eastern Conference Championship
vs. Cleveland)
Rushing
attempts – 8
Rushing yards
– 17
Average gain
rushing – 2.1
Rushing TDs –
0
Pass
receptions – 1
Pass
receiving yards - 7
Average yards
per reception – 7.0
Pass Receiving
TDs – 0
Kickoff
Returns – 4
Yards – 90
Average per
return – 22.5
TDs – 0
Awards & Honors:
NFL Rookie of
the Year: UPI, NEA, Sporting News
NFL Offensive
Rookie of the Year: AP, PFWA
1st-team
All-NFL: AP, PFWA, Hall of Fame, NEA, NY Daily News, Pro Football Weekly,
Sporting News
2nd-team
All-NFL: UPI
Cowboys went 11-2-1
to finish first in the Capitol Division of the NFL Eastern Conference while
leading the league in total yards (5122) and rushing yards (2276). Lost Eastern
Conference Championship to Cleveland Browns (38-14).
Aftermath:
Injuries
limited Hill to 577 and 468 yards, respectively, in 1970 and ’71 and Duane
Thomas emerged as an alternative, but in 1972 he became the first Dallas
running back to gain a thousand yards rushing in a season (1036) while also
catching 43 passes for 364 more yards and, in ’73, he gained a career-high 1142
yards on the ground. He was selected to the Pro Bowl for three straight seasons,
including 1974, when he ran for 844 yards, but left the Cowboys for The Hawaiians
of the WFL in ’75. Hill played in three WFL games before being sidelined by a
knee injury, and with the demise of the league returned to the NFL with the
Washington Redskins for 1976. As a backup for two years in Washington, he ran
for 558 yards and caught 25 passes before moving on to the Cleveland Browns in
1978. Used primarily for his pass receiving skills out of the backfield in his
four years with Cleveland, Hill ran the ball for just 516 yards but had 107
receptions for 1248 yards and 16 TDs. For his career in the NFL, he rushed for
6083 yards on 1452 carries (4.2 avg.) and 42 touchdowns, caught 271 passes for
2861 yards (10.6 avg.) and another 23 TDs, and was named to the Pro Bowl four
times. His brief hiatus in the WFL added another 218 rushing yards and four
catches.
--
Rookie of the Year Profiles feature players who were named Rookie
of the Year in the NFL, AFL (1960-69), or USFL (1983-85) by a recognized
organization (Associated Press – Offense or Defense, Newspaper Enterprise
Association, United Press International, The Sporting News, or the league
itself – Pepsi NFL Rookie of the Year).
