Nas Posted November 2, 2013 Share Posted November 2, 2013 http://nypost.com/2013/11/01/giants-faith-in-will-hill-pays-off/ The Giants took a leap of faith by signing Will Hill when nobody else would give the safety a chance, and stuck with the hard-hitter through two four-game suspensions. He finally is making their gamble pay off. The 6-foot-1, 207-pound Hill has made the most of his latest second chance, thriving at safety in four games since his return. His emergence has enabled the Giants to go with a three-safety look, which has proven successful in the past. Hill joined Antrel Rolle and Ryan Mundy in the defensive backfield as the team won back-to-back games. In his four games, the speedy Jersey City product has 25 tackles and a big interception, which clinched last weekend’s victory over the Eagles in Philadelphia, his first career NFL start. In Hill’s first game of the season, the first contest against the Eagles on Oct. 6, he had 11 solo tackles. “Will brings a tenacity about him that’s like no other,” safeties coach David Merritt said. “When he hits you, he actually has knock-back tackles.” Giants coach Tom Coughlin raved about Hill and how hard he has worked to prove the Giants didn’t make a mistake — with actions, not words. The more responsibility the Giants have given him, the better he has performed. “He’s gone about his business and we’ll stand by him and we encourage him,” Coughlin said. “I think he feels a great deal of responsibility to his teammates now, and hopefully that will just continue to grow.” Talent was never a question for Hill. He was a superstar in high school, an All-American and dominant two-way force for St. Peter’s Prep. He was rated as the top high school safety in the nation his senior year by all the recruiting services, and landed at Florida, playing for coach Urban Meyer. After three mostly successful seasons at Florida and a national title, Hill went undrafted, teams passing on him due to character issues. Hill was suspended in 2010 for violating team rules at Florida and a college football website posted vulgar tweets from his Twitter account about sex, prostitutes and drugs — tweets he claimed were not his, but those of a hacker. Merritt recalled meeting Hill before the 2011 draft and said the kid had a cockiness about him that rubbed the coach the wrong way. “I remember seeing this kid thinking that the world is his and everyone else needed to bow down at his feet,” Merritt recalled. The Giants took a chance on him a year later. Merritt didn’t recognize the humbled Hill when he returned to the team’s facility, and the team was undeterred by Hill’s four-game suspension last year for using Adderall. Then came another four-game ban at the start of this season for violating the NFL Policy and Program for Substances of Abuse, which Hill revealed over the summer was the result of repeated failed drug tests for marijuana use. During the summer, Hill explained his drug use came from the pressure being a local star playing with the Giants entails. He detailed how family and friends looked for handouts and how he was robbed at gunpoint on a visit to his hometown. Substance abuse was the way he dealt with it. Rather than turn their backs on him, the Giants sought to help. They placed him in a Boston clinic early in the offseason, and he also has visited an outpatient clinic in Parsippany, N.J. “The program that [Director of Player Development] Charles Way and Mr. [Jerry] Reese and Mr. [John] Mara has set up for the kid, he has stuck to that and done a tremendous job,” Merritt said. Hill feels privileged to be in this situation, given another chance to carve out an NFL career. He feels indebted to the Giants, fortunate they have stuck with him. “I want to repay the Giants for everything they’ve done for me,” Hill told nj.com. “It’s been awesome to be able to play and help the team. I want to keep up the progress that I’ve made. I want to be consistent and show the Giants I’m ready to be the player they think I can be.” Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gman329 Posted November 2, 2013 Share Posted November 2, 2013 Let him smoke for christsake... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Treehugger Posted November 2, 2013 Share Posted November 2, 2013 I always thought the 3-safety look came out of necessity, not choice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TaylorBanksCarsonVanPelt Posted November 2, 2013 Share Posted November 2, 2013 Let him smoke for christsake... This... please will the U.S. just stop the bullshit and legalize pot already... tired of seeing so many lives destroyed by legal tobacco products and the concurrent destruction caused by pot being illegal. Let's just all grow up about this topic... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TaylorBanksCarsonVanPelt Posted November 2, 2013 Share Posted November 2, 2013 I always thought the 3-safety look came out of necessity, not choice. Yeah it seems like they want to put a positive spin on things... but I guess with the signing of The Beast (Beason) they have been able to use it in spots to their advantage... I would rather see the 3 safeties than Payless or Herself back there... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gman329 Posted November 2, 2013 Share Posted November 2, 2013 This... please will the U.S. just stop the bullshit and legalize pot already... tired of seeing so many lives destroyed by legal tobacco products and the concurrent destruction caused by pot being illegal. Let's just all grow up about this topic... Exactly. And I hope to hell they didn't suspend Blackmon for a whole f*cking year over f*cking weed! All I've heard so far is it was "recreational" drug use. If it's blow or pills, then yeah, he should take a year and get his life sorted out, because that shit will not only curtail your football career, it could ruin your health and life well beyond football. But weed? Please, make it legal and stop wasting the court's time and people's lives over nothing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Treehugger Posted November 2, 2013 Share Posted November 2, 2013 Exactly. And I hope to hell they didn't suspend Blackmon for a whole f*cking year over f*cking weed! All I've heard so far is it was "recreational" drug use. If it's blow or pills, then yeah, he should take a year and get his life sorted out, because that shit will not only curtail your football career, it could ruin your health and life well beyond football. But weed? Please, make it legal and stop wasting the court's time and people's lives over nothing. Blackmon's statement made it sound like he didn't follow through with the program he was supposed to go through after his first suspension. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RandolphScott Posted November 3, 2013 Share Posted November 3, 2013 I always thought the 3-safety look came out of necessity, not choice. Well, now that the Giants have a linebacker that's competent they don't have to do that anymore. I don't think Mundy played a down against the Eagles. Beason and Jacquain played pretty well too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JMFP Posted November 3, 2013 Share Posted November 3, 2013 Yeah it seems like they want to put a positive spin on things... but I guess with the signing of The Beast (Beason) they have been able to use it in spots to their advantage... I would rather see the 3 safeties than Payless or Herself back there... Agreed....we are talking about some young guys (Hill, Paysinger, Herzlich) but I think Hill has shown the most promise so far. As long as Fewell's 3 Safety fetish doesn't get in the way of Beason being on the field, I'll tolerate it, given our lackluster OLBs. Get 2 guards and one more impact linebacker that can bring a disruptive blitz (i.e., smoke a RB trying to block him) and this is a legitimate playoff contender team again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tempest Posted November 3, 2013 Share Posted November 3, 2013 Until the next time he fails a drug test Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
osi724dasack Posted November 4, 2013 Share Posted November 4, 2013 Until the next time he fails a drug testHe's serious right now. He barely smokes at all and plans to stay 95% sober for the next 3-4 years till the rules change and allow marijuana use. Most players smoke weed anyway. It's just that they're body's contain such high muscle counts and such low fat amounts combined with copious sweating, that they can get there body's clean in 2 days as long as they're not smoking all day everyday. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JMFP Posted November 5, 2013 Share Posted November 5, 2013 He's serious right now. He barely smokes at all and plans to stay 95% sober for the next 3-4 years till the rules change and allow marijuana use. Most players smoke weed anyway. It's just that they're body's contain such high muscle counts and such low fat amounts combined with copious sweating, that they can get there body's clean in 2 days as long as they're not smoking all day everyday. Osi, please, no more weed smoking with Hill until the offseason. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
osi724dasack Posted November 5, 2013 Share Posted November 5, 2013 Osi, please, no more weed smoking with Hill until the offseason. I'm not smoking with that mofo till he's in the probowl Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NeMesiS Posted November 5, 2013 Share Posted November 5, 2013 You can tell he has great upside.... However, he needs to keep his head out of his ass. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iceman_NYG Posted November 9, 2013 Share Posted November 9, 2013 With Hill playing at this level, I wish we hadnt lost Brown for the season. This D could have been really good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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