Once upon a time, Stephen Hill was a promising NFL draft pick, anxiously waiting to see where he would go after being found often as a deep threat in Paul Johnson's triple option offense with the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets. He hadn't been asked to catch very often with the Yellow Jackets, but was planning on doing it a lot, especially after he ran a sub 4.4 40 yard dash putting up a fantastic time of 4.36.
But he was drafted in the second round by the New York Jets in the 2012 NFL Draft, and it's clear that we all know the quarterback drama that was surrounding the situation there. Mark Sanchez was the starting quarterback and Hill was made a starting receiver before the first game of his NFL career. Let's not forget the media circus around Tim Tebow that year as well. Before the year was over, he had torn his LCL and was placed on injured reserve late in December 2012.
He again was injured late in the 2013 season after having a subpar performance, and before the start of the 2014 NFL season, the Jets had enough, and they cut him to have a fresh start as they were focusing on developing their new quarterback in Geno Smith.
Hill still had an NFL chance, and after spending the 2014 season on the practice squad for the Carolina Panthers, he was planning on doing something bigger and being on the 53 man roster. But just on Saturday, August 1st, he was injured in practice and it has been determined that it is a torn ACL. On Sunday, the Panthers decided not to waste any time and to go ahead and cut the injured player.
Unfortunately, these injuries are going to cause many websites, authors, and fans to label Hill as a bust, but when you are consistently injured, it makes it tough for you to be a productive player. At six feet four inches and a sub 4.4 forty yard dash, there is a lot that fans are going to expect out of you. But Hill was unable to deliver. Not for the Jets and not for the Panthers.
This author hopes that Hill is able to recover and get a tryout with another NFL team, so that he can continue to follow his dreams. Just picture him coming in as a fourth or fifth receiver for a team like the New England Patriots, Denver Broncos, or the Green Bay Packers. It would be exciting to see a comeback story from this young man, whether or not he is able to do that remains to be seen as he will have to recover from that ACL injury.