Raion Yance Hill (born September 2, 1976) is a former professional

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 ...

safety Safety is the state of being protected from harm or other danger. Safety can also refer to the control of recognized hazards in order to achieve an acceptable level of risk. Meanings The word 'safety' entered the English language in the 1 ...

in 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 two seasons for the

Buffalo Bills The Buffalo Bills are a professional American football team based in the Buffalo–Niagara Falls metropolitan area. The Bills compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East div ...

. He attended Brother Martin High School in

New Orleans, Louisiana 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 ...

, and graduated in 1994. He then went on to play at Louisiana State University. However, he broke his leg in 1995 and had a titanium rod placed in it. In his first defensive start against Auburn, he returned one interception 39 yards for a touchdown and another interception 98 yards for two points on a two-point conversion. The game was dubbed "The Night the Barn Burned". Hill finished his college career with 102 tackles and three interceptions. After going undrafted in the

1999 NFL draft The 1999 NFL draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The draft was held April 17–18, 1999, at the Theater at M ...

, Hill was cut by the

and signed to their practice squad later in the season. He made the final roster in 2000 and played in all 16 games, leading the special teams unit with 39 tackles. Hill became the team's starting

strong safety Safety (S), historically known as a safetyman, is a position in gridiron football on the defense. The safeties are defensive backs who line up ten to fifteen yards from the line of scrimmage. There are two variations of the position: the free sa ...

in 2001 after the release of veteran Henry Jones.

Personal life

On the morning of January 22, 2001, Hill was carjacked at gunpoint in Louisiana, suffering a leg injury in the incident. One of his two assailants, 23-year-old Lionel Redditt, was sentenced to 50 years in prison for his role in the crime.

References

External links

LSU Tigers bio
1976 births Living people Players of American football from Marrero, Louisiana American football safeties LSU Tigers football players Buffalo Bills players Brother Martin High School alumni 20th-century American sportsmen {{defensiveback-1970s-stub