Darius E. Hill (born August 26, 1985) is a former

American football American football, referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada and also known as gridiron football, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular American football field, field with goalposts at e ...

tight end The tight end (TE) is an offense (sports), offensive position in American football, arena football, and Canadian football. It is a hybrid that combines the characteristics and roles of both an offensive lineman and a receiver (football), receiv ...

. He was signed by the

Cincinnati Bengals The Cincinnati Bengals are a professional American football team based in Cincinnati. The Bengals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The team plays its h ...

as an

undrafted free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player or manager who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under a contract at present ...

in 2009. He played

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

Ball State University Ball State University (Ball State or BSU) is a public research university in Muncie, Indiana, United States. The university has three off-campus centers in Indianapolis, Fort Wayne, and Fishers, Indiana. The university is composed of seven aca ...

College career

After a year as a red-shirt freshman in 2004, Hill appeared in 11 games as a back-up tight end in 2005. Though he caught just 11 passes, 3 were touchdowns, including a game-tying grab in triple overtime of a 60-57 win over

Western Michigan West Michigan and Western Michigan are terms for a region in the U.S. state of Michigan's Lower Peninsula. Generally, it refers to the Grand Rapids- Muskegon-Holland area, and more broadly to most of the region along the Lower Peninsula's Lake ...

in week five. In his second year, Hill saw much more action. He caught at least one pass in 10 of the Cardinals' 12 games, recorded four 100+ yard games and four multiple touchdown games, and lead the team with 741 yards and a school record 10 touchdowns. He also finished second on the team with 42 catches and an average of 17.6 yards per reception. These totals ranked him 7th, tied for 1st, 15th, and 5th in the MAC for 2006, and earned him an All-Conference Honorable Mention. In 2007, Hill caught at least two passes in all 13 of Ball State's games, helping them reach their first winning record and bowl game since 1996. He broke his own single-season school record with a team-and-conference-leading 11 touchdowns, in addition to 65 receptions for 926 yards (second in both categories to Dante Love on the team, 8th and 9th in the MAC respectively). These totals earned him a spot on the All-Conference first-team, and a

John Mackey Award The John Mackey Award is presented annually to college football's most outstanding tight end. Established in 2000 by the Nassau County Sports Commission, the award is given annually to the tight end who best exemplifies the play, sportsmanship, ac ...

nomination. As a fifth year senior, Hill played all 14 games for the Cardinals in 2008-9. The team amassed a 12-2 record and ended the season ranked in the top 25 for the first and only time in school history. As in the previous season, Hill recorded no 100+ yard games, but did end the year with 40 receptions for 670 yards (second on the team to Briggs Orsborn in both categories) and seven touchdowns (leading the team for the third consecutive year). Despite the decreased output, he was again voted onto the All-Conference first-team. Hill ended his career at Ball State with 158 receptions for 2,473 yards, which was third most by any player in both categories at the time (8th and 6th as of 2016). His mark of 31 career receiving touchdowns remains a school record, as does his total of seven multi-touchdown games.A record now shared with Snead.

Professional career

Cincinnati Bengals

Hill was signed by the

as an

following the

2009 NFL draft The 2009 NFL draft was the 74th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible football players. The draft took place at Radio City Music Hall in New York City, New York, on April 25 and 26, 2009. The draft c ...

. He played in one game in

2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...

, and was waived on September 4, 2010 during final cuts.

Jacksonville Jaguars

In 2010, he was signed to the

Jacksonville Jaguars The Jacksonville Jaguars are a professional American football team based in Jacksonville, Florida. The Jaguars compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division. The team ...

' practice squad.

References

External links

College career summary upon signing with the NFLCincinnati Bengals bio

Ball State Cardinals bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hill, Darius 1985 births Living people Sportspeople from St. Charles, Missouri Sportspeople from Blue Springs, Missouri Players of American football from Jackson County, Missouri American football tight ends Ball State Cardinals football players Cincinnati Bengals players Jacksonville Jaguars players