Finally healthy, former second-round pick Stephen Hill hopes to restart NFL career in Spring League

Stephen Hill remembers everything. The date: Aug. 1, 2015. The drill: 7-on-7. The play: Six-route over the middle.

The pain: Enough to make him shriek in agony.

The then-Panthers wideout, fighting for his roster life in training camp, landed awkwardly after jumping high for the ball. His right knee got caught in the grass at Wofford College, twisted, and ruptured. Hill tore his ACL, PCL and LCL — a potential career death sentence.

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He sobbed as the Panthers carted him off the field. He’s struggled to return to one since.

Three years later, down in Austin, Texas, Hill is hoping to change that. The 26-year-old is one of more than 100 players taking part in the Spring League, a developmental football program to help players return to the NFL.

“There are 32 teams out there,” Hill said. “I just need one to get me on the 90-man roster so I can show my talents and show them I can still play.”

It’s been a long and bumpy road for Hill to get to this point. Surgery fixed his knee, sure, but it didn’t make it better. At first, he had no range of motion. When he finally got it back, he needed to learn to play again. And that, he said, took time.

Knee injuries in the NFL aren’t simple. Very few return like Adrian Peterson, who tore his ACL in 2011, then ran for 2,097 yards in 2012. Players can come back in a year, but it normally takes two to return to form. And that’s for those who suffer damage to a single ligament. Hill tore three.

Hill received medical clearance to take part in Carolina’s 2016 training camp and preseason, so he did. During practices, though, he couldn’t cut like he used to, and didn’t have the same burst. He finished the preseason with just two catches for 18 yards. Carolina cut him before the season. Because he didn’t have any practice squad eligibility, he spent the entire 2016 and 2017 seasons out of work. Just the Bills gave him a tryout.

It was disappointing and upsetting, but Hill understood it. He wasn’t ready to help a team.  But this year, that’s not the case. Hill finally feels himself again.

And he’s starting to look it.

“He’s so hungry to get back to where he wants to be, in the NFL,” Robert Gordon, Hill’s positional coach in the Spring League, said. “He looks really healthy. He’s coming off the ball nice. When I first saw the scar, I was a little worried. But he said he’s stronger, and so far I believe him.

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“He’s so explosive. His routes are crisp. He stands out already. It’s just a matter of getting those reps. I played 16 years myself (in the CFL), and he has all the things I wish I had.”

Not long ago Hill was among the most intriguing prospects in 2012 draft. Still the Georgia high school state record holder in the long jump, he played college football at Georgia Tech. As a 6-4, 215-pound junior, he caught 28 passes for 820 yards (an astounding 29.3 yards per catch) and five touchdowns. He opened the eyes of scouts at the NFL Combine. Hill ran the 40-yard dash in 4.36 seconds, jumped a 39.5-inch vertical, and benched 225 pounds 14 times.

His route-running and hands needed work, but Hill’s ceiling seemed through the roof. In time, and with some coaching, he might develop into one of the NFL’s best. The Jets believed so and took him with the 43rd pick. He went two selections before Alshon Jeffery (Bears).

Hill had moments in New York. He caught five passes for 89 yards and two touchdowns in his first game as a rookie. He had 13 catches for 233 yards and a touchdown the first three games his sophomore season. But it became clear Hill was much more of an athlete than a receiver.

His inability to run routes and his knack for dropping passes made him a liability on offense. He struggled with the technicalities of playing receiver, like attacking the ball at its highest point. In two years, he played 29 games. He caught just 45 passes for 594 yards and four touchdowns.

The Jets cut him before the 2013 season.

“It was tough,” Hill said of his time in New York. “I don’t want to blame anybody because it was my choice to leave for the NFL. It was basically one of those things where you come in and things don’t go well. We had some pretty good days. I’m not going to lie to you and say it was terrible. When you’re not on a winning team, certain things happen.

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“But me being at the Jets, it still taught me a whole lot. I’m grateful I got drafted by them. It taught me it’s a business. It’s ‘what have you done for me lately?’ You have to make sure you bring your A-game every day.”

Hill cleared waivers, then signed to the Panthers’ practice squad. He arrived there as the same player he was with the Jets: A freak of an athlete, but not a polished receiver. He realized that and wanted to change it. His best way of doing so: Soak up everything he could from Panthers receivers coach and 17-year NFL veteran Ricky Proehl.

Hill says Proehl, who coached with the Panthers from 2011 through 2016, did more for him than anyone else. He learned it wasn’t just about running routes, but why certain routes were run. Proehl explained the game to him, and it all started to click.

“I felt like I could be the quarterback because I knew so much,” Hill said. “Carolina was when I learned football.”

While he worked exclusively with the scout team, Hill felt himself getting better each day in 2014. He was making plays he never made before. He was excited for the 2015 season because he believed he’d finally be able to reach his potential. He was a different player. A better player.

Then came that six-route over the middle in a 7-on-7 drill on Aug. 1.

The Spring League will give Hill the chance he so desperately craves. Scouts from all 32 teams are expected to be in attendance, and understandably so. Johnny Manziel, Ben Tate and Zach Mettenberger join Hill as some of the many former NFL players taking part.

This is Hill’s shot not only to show he’s healthy, but how much progress he’s made from his days in New York.

For the first time in his career he’s not an athlete, but a receiver. And he believes he can help an NFL team.

“I’m very confident,” Hill said. “I just need to get that phone call, and a spot on a 90-man roster.”

(Photo by Tom Szczerbowski/Getty Images)

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