Gerald Allen Hill (born October 12, 1939) is an American former professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

player who was a

running back A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive American football plays#Offensive terminology, handoffs from the quarterback to Rush (American football)#Offense ...

for the Baltimore Colts of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

(NFL). He played

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for the Wyoming Cowboys. He is a native of Lingle, Wyoming.

University of Wyoming

Born and raised in southeastern

Wyoming Wyoming ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States, Western United States. It borders Montana to the north and northwest, South Dakota and Nebraska to the east, Idaho t ...

, Hill played

at the

University of Wyoming The University of Wyoming (UW) is a Public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in Laramie, Wyoming, United States. It was founded in March 1886, four years before the territory was admitted as the 44th state, ...

in Laramie under head coach Bob Devaney. He was an All- Skyline Conference running back in 1959 and 1960, and was part of the 1958 team that won the Sun Bowl in his sophomore season. Hill was selected as Wyoming football's Player of the 20th Century in 1992. He finished his collegiate career with 1,374 rushing yards on 288 carries. He was named as an Honorable Mention

All-American The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed on outstanding athletes in the United States who are considered to be among the best athletes in their respective sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an Al ...

in 1959 and 1960.

Baltimore Colts

Selected in the third round (35th overall) of the 1961 NFL draft by the Baltimore Colts he played with them through

1970 Events January * January 1 – Unix time epoch reached at 00:00:00 UTC. * January 5 – The 7.1 1970 Tonghai earthquake, Tonghai earthquake shakes Tonghai County, Yunnan province, China, with a maximum Mercalli intensity scale, Mercalli ...

, including

Super Bowl The Super Bowl is the annual History of the NFL championship, league championship game of the National Football League (NFL) of the United States. It has served as the final game of every NFL season since 1966 NFL season, 1966 (with the excep ...

s III and V. Hill was primarily used as a blocking back for other rushers such as Lenny Moore and Tom Matte and protecting John Unitas from blitzing linebackers. Hill's best season was in 1965, when he led the team in rushing with 516 yards. Baltimore-based National Brewing Company introduced Colt 45 malt liquor in 1963. The Pabst Brewing Company (current owners of the beverage) claims on their website the "Fun Fact" that Colt 45 was named after Hill, who was #45 on the 1963 Baltimore Colts, and not the .45 caliber cartridge of the same name. However, Hill described the claim as a "rumor," and stated that he never made any endorsements or received any royalties for the alleged use of his name. In a 2020 interview, Hill stated that "They wanted to name the product Colt 45 … I just happened to be the Colt who was wearing 45."

Awards and honors

*All Skyline Conference Running Back (1959, 1960) *Inducted into Wyoming Cowboys Hall of Fame, October 29, 1993. *Wyoming Football Player of the 20th Century *Member of 1958 Sun Bowl Champions *Member of 1968 NFL Champions *Member of Super Bowl V Champions

References

External links

University of Wyoming Athletics Hall of Fame
– Jerry Hill * 1939 births Living people People from Torrington, Wyoming People from Lingle, Wyoming Players of American football from Wyoming American football running backs Wyoming Cowboys football players Baltimore Colts players 20th-century American sportsmen {{Runningback-1930s-stub