SWEET HOME ALABAMA 2.0--YOU'RE NOT A REAL BEARS FAN UNLESS YOU KNOW ABOUT HARLON HILL
Driving past cotton fields in the Northwest corner of Alabama you come to the bend of the Tennessee River is an area called The Shoals. It includes the cities of Florence, Muscle Shoals and Tuscumbia as well as several smaller towns. Today the area is best known as the home of the Blues, as in music. In Florence you can visit the birthplace of W.C. Handy, the Father of the Blues. Don't confuse him with W.C. Fields although many people do. Also synonymous with the area as well as the whole state is Football. The most popular sport in Alabama is football and the second most popular is Spring football.
Back in the 1940's and early 1950's, a young man named Harlon Hill grew up in nearby Killen, Alabama, a town of about 1000. If you are younger than about 70, you probably don't know who he was. But, for about three glorious years, playing for the Chicago Bears, he was the best receiver in the National Football League. He was so good that they named a trophy after him.
The Harlon Hill Award is given to the best football player in NCAA Division II (small college). It is the small college equivalent of the Heisman Trophy. Several recipients of the trophy have gone on to productive careers in pro football although none were big stars. Some of the recent winners played for schools like Slippery Rock, Ferris State, Bloomsburg State, and Colorado Mines. The best known was three time winner Johnny Bailey, a running back from Texas A&M Kingsville, who played 6 seasons with the Bears in the 1990's.
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Young Harlon Hill was an unheralded prospect from an obscure small college, Florence State Teachers College (now called University of North Alabama), where he played 4 seasons. The team's offense was oriented toward the run, as many teams were at that time, and Hill did a lot of blocking. As famed Ohio State Coach Woody Hayes once said, "When you pass the ball, three things can happen and two of them are bad." In his four years there, Hill caught a total of 54 passes, but 19 of them went for touchdowns.
After his senior year, Hill played in the annual Blue-Gray Game in Montgomery where a coach from Jacksonville State, whose team had played against Hill to their detriment, mentioned Hill's name to his friend, Bears coach George Halas. Halas requested some game films and was impressed enough that the Bears drafted him in the 15th round. If Hill felt slighted he could keep in mind that a couple years later another Alabama boy, Bart Starr, a reserve quarterback on a winless Crimson Tide team wasn't drafted until the 17th round by the Green Bay Packers where he launched a legendary Hall of Fame career.
Hill was the NFL Rookie of the Year in 1954, and he won the Most Valuable Player Award the following year. His specialty was the long "bomb", and he averaged around 25 yards per catch. He made the All Pro team in 1954-56, but got hurt in the 1956 championship game against the New York Giants,, and his career was never the same. He played 6 more years in the NFL, but a series of injuries slowed him down. He wasn't bad, averaging about 17 yards per catch, but he was no longer dazzling.
He played in an era when running the ball was more important than passing. The best quarterbacks of the day completed only about 50% of their passes. Nevertheless, Hill still holds the Bears record for career 100 yard games receiving, and held the single game record with 214 receiving yards until it was eclipsed by Alshon Jeffrey 60 years later. He also held the Bears record of 4 receiving touchdowns in a game which was later tied by Mike Ditka. In all time Bears history he is second only to Johnny Morris in receiving yards. He still holds the Bears rookie record for receiving yards and touchdowns. He led the NFL in touchdowns his rookie year.
Hill's career average of over 20 yards per catch ranks third in NFL history. He could get down the field quicker than anyone--he had 4 touchdown grabs of more than 75 yards. He gained over 1100 yards twice, at a time when they played only 12 games per season--now they play 16, and a lot of guys gain over 1100 yards. Even more remarkable was that he fumbled only twice in his career.
You would expect that Hill's gridiron exploits would have earned hun a spot in the NFL Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio but no-o-o. The probable reason is that his productive career was too brief.
After his retirement from football, Hill was a success in real life. He went back to school and earned his master's degree in education. He returned to his hometown to become an assistant coach and teacher, and ultimately the principal of his old high school in Killen. He died in 2013 at age 80, leaving 4 daughters and a son. His wife Virginia predeceased him.
Back in the 1940's and early 1950's, a young man named Harlon Hill grew up in nearby Killen, Alabama, a town of about 1000. If you are younger than about 70, you probably don't know who he was. But, for about three glorious years, playing for the Chicago Bears, he was the best receiver in the National Football League. He was so good that they named a trophy after him.
The Harlon Hill Award is given to the best football player in NCAA Division II (small college). It is the small college equivalent of the Heisman Trophy. Several recipients of the trophy have gone on to productive careers in pro football although none were big stars. Some of the recent winners played for schools like Slippery Rock, Ferris State, Bloomsburg State, and Colorado Mines. The best known was three time winner Johnny Bailey, a running back from Texas A&M Kingsville, who played 6 seasons with the Bears in the 1990's.
Young Harlon Hill was an unheralded prospect from an obscure small college, Florence State Teachers College (now called University of North Alabama), where he played 4 seasons. The team's offense was oriented toward the run, as many teams were at that time, and Hill did a lot of blocking. As famed Ohio State Coach Woody Hayes once said, "When you pass the ball, three things can happen and two of them are bad." In his four years there, Hill caught a total of 54 passes, but 19 of them went for touchdowns.
After his senior year, Hill played in the annual Blue-Gray Game in Montgomery where a coach from Jacksonville State, whose team had played against Hill to their detriment, mentioned Hill's name to his friend, Bears coach George Halas. Halas requested some game films and was impressed enough that the Bears drafted him in the 15th round. If Hill felt slighted he could keep in mind that a couple years later another Alabama boy, Bart Starr, a reserve quarterback on a winless Crimson Tide team wasn't drafted until the 17th round by the Green Bay Packers where he launched a legendary Hall of Fame career.
Hill was the NFL Rookie of the Year in 1954, and he won the Most Valuable Player Award the following year. His specialty was the long "bomb", and he averaged around 25 yards per catch. He made the All Pro team in 1954-56, but got hurt in the 1956 championship game against the New York Giants,, and his career was never the same. He played 6 more years in the NFL, but a series of injuries slowed him down. He wasn't bad, averaging about 17 yards per catch, but he was no longer dazzling.
He played in an era when running the ball was more important than passing. The best quarterbacks of the day completed only about 50% of their passes. Nevertheless, Hill still holds the Bears record for career 100 yard games receiving, and held the single game record with 214 receiving yards until it was eclipsed by Alshon Jeffrey 60 years later. He also held the Bears record of 4 receiving touchdowns in a game which was later tied by Mike Ditka. In all time Bears history he is second only to Johnny Morris in receiving yards. He still holds the Bears rookie record for receiving yards and touchdowns. He led the NFL in touchdowns his rookie year.
Hill's career average of over 20 yards per catch ranks third in NFL history. He could get down the field quicker than anyone--he had 4 touchdown grabs of more than 75 yards. He gained over 1100 yards twice, at a time when they played only 12 games per season--now they play 16, and a lot of guys gain over 1100 yards. Even more remarkable was that he fumbled only twice in his career.
You would expect that Hill's gridiron exploits would have earned hun a spot in the NFL Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio but no-o-o. The probable reason is that his productive career was too brief.
After his retirement from football, Hill was a success in real life. He went back to school and earned his master's degree in education. He returned to his hometown to become an assistant coach and teacher, and ultimately the principal of his old high school in Killen. He died in 2013 at age 80, leaving 4 daughters and a son. His wife Virginia predeceased him.
posted by kensuskinreport at
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