Marquise Hill (August 7, 1982 – May 28, 2007) was an American 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 ...

defensive end Defensive end (DE) is a defensive position in the sport of gridiron football. This position has designated the players at each end of the defensive line, but changes in formation (American football), formations over the years have substantially ...

for the

New England Patriots The New England Patriots are a professional American football team based in the Greater Boston area. The Patriots compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East division. The Pa ...

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 was selected by the Patriots in the second round of the 2004 NFL draft. 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 ...

LSU Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as Louisiana State University (LSU), is an American Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louis ...

Early life

Hill attended De La Salle High School in

New Orleans New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...

, where he was named as an All-American and the best

defensive lineman In gridiron football, a lineman is a player who specializes in play at the line of scrimmage. The linemen of the team currently in possession of the ball are the offensive line (OL), while linemen on the opposing team are the defensive line (D ...

in the nation by many publications. He was recruited by

. He participated in the first-ever U.S. Army All-American Bowl game on December 30, 2000.

College career

Hill played

as a

for the LSU Tigers from 2001 to 2003 during their national championship season.

Professional career

Hill was selected by the

in the second round with the 63rd overall pick in the 2004 NFL draft. He played in one game in 2004 and played in eight games in the 2005 season, making three tackles.

Death

On the evening of May 27, 2007, Hill and his friend, Ashley Blazio, fell off a

jet ski A personal watercraft (PWC), also called Jet Ski or water scooter, is a primarily recreational watercraft that is designed to hold only a small number of occupants, who sit or stand on top of the craft, not within the craft as in a boat. P ...

in Lake Pontchartrain, north of

. Neither of them wore personal flotation or tracking devices. According to Hill's agent, who spoke with Blazio, Hill "ended up saving her life, keeping her calm until she could grab onto a buoy." Blazio was rescued and sent to Tulane Medical Center.

Coast Guard A coast guard or coastguard is a Maritime Security Regimes, maritime security organization of a particular country. The term embraces wide range of responsibilities in different countries, from being a heavily armed military force with cust ...

units searched the area. Hill's body was found by the

Louisiana Louisiana ( ; ; ) is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It borders Texas to the west, Arkansas to the north, and Mississippi to the east. Of the 50 U.S. states, it ranks 31st in area and 25 ...

Department of Wildlife and Fisheries around 2:20 PM CDT on May 28. Throughout their near-perfect

2007 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...

season, the Patriots team wore a "91" insignia (Hill's number in his tenure with New England) on the back of their helmets in his honor. Teammate Jarvis Green, who had also been Hill's teammate at LSU, wore Hill's shoulder pads for the season. The Patriots built a tribute to Hill, including those pads and pictures of Hill, at their facility.

References

External links

New England Patriots bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hill, Marquise 1982 births 2007 deaths Players of American football from New Orleans American football defensive ends De La Salle High School (New Orleans, Louisiana) alumni New England Patriots players LSU Tigers football players Deaths by drowning in Louisiana Accidental deaths in Louisiana 20th-century African-American sportsmen 20th-century American sportsmen 21st-century African-American sportsmen