From six man football at Lingle High School, to a pair of NFL Super Bowls, to being named Wyoming's Player of the Century, it's been a marvelous journey for Hall of Famer Jerry Hill.
Hill starred for Head Coach Bob Devaney and the Cowboys from 1958 through 1960. He was a two-time All-Skyline Conference running back who, upon completion of his Wyoming career, was drafted by both the Denver Broncos of the American Football League and the Baltimore Colts of the National Football League.
He chose the Colts, and what a choice it was. But we'll come back to that a little bit later.
Hill is getting ready to celebrate his 81st birthday soon. He lives on the Powder Horn golf course outside of Sheridan where he's been for nearly 20 years. He lives there because when he was a kid his mother loved taking their vacations from the farm near Lingle to Sheridan. "She always loved it, and so did I, so this is where I decided to retire," says Jerry.
Hill was born in Torrington, and attended school there until the fourth grade. His family moved from a farm near there to a farm near Lingle. "We had six man football at Lingle when I was in high school, and moved up to eight-man by the time I was a high school senior. It was offensive football, wasn't much defense. But we had a lot of fun at it."
Hill says he never once gave playing college football a thought while he was growing up. It wasn't his dream to play for the Cowboys.
"Nope, never really gave that a thought until my senior year when (Wyoming coaches) Mike Corgan and Jim Ross showed up at the farm and offered me a scholarship to go to school and play football for the Cowboys. I have to say I was surprised. But what could I say, but 'sure'.
"I had a lot of fun playing for the Cowboys and making life-long friends of my teammates. It was amazing at that time that four Cowboy players came from Goshen County, Dick Schnell (tackle), Marty Hamilton (end), Daryl Matthews (guard) and me. We had a lot of fun with that. It was just a great experience all the way around. "
Hill gained 1,374 rushing yards as a Cowboy, but admits he was a much better blocker than he was runner. "I didn't have much speed," he laughs. "But I was considered a big back. I weighed between 195 and 200, so I was one of the bigger guys. I wasn't the fastest, but I could run over guys."
Hill was my hero growing up and I can attest to the way he played the game. He was physical, tough, and very hard to bring down.
His outstanding Cowboy career landed him in the University of Wyoming Intercollegiate Athletics Hall of Fame in 1993. As the century was winding down, he was selected as Wyoming's 'Player of the 20th Century' by a fan vote.
"Both of those things were great honors for me. I can't tell you how appreciative I am of that recognition."
While he has a lot of great memories of his playing days in the Brown and Gold, he doesn't really remember any specific games.
"That was too long ago," he chuckles. "What I do remember is how much fun it was to go to Utah by train. For a guy from a little farm in southeastern Wyoming, it was pretty special to get on the train, sleep all night, and wake up in Salt Lake City. I loved that."
During his three years at Laramie, the Cowboys were 23-4-2 under Devaney. "We had good teams with a lot of good players," he says.
Following his senior year, during which he gained 636 yards in 144 carries and six touchdowns, Hill played in the East-West Shrine Bowl and the Senior Bowl.
"I had been getting letters from NFL teams, and some AFL teams," he says. "The AFL drafted earlier, and I was actually drafted by the Broncos. I thought that was pretty neat, but while we were practicing for the East-West game, Charlie Winter, who was the brother-in-law of Weeb Ewbank, the head coach of the Colts, came up to me and said that Baltimore had drafted me and he handed me a check, and a bonus. It was by far the most money I'd ever seen. It totally came out of the blue.
"It didn't take me long to decide to go with the Colts, figuring if I didn't make it, I could always go back to the Broncos. Ewbank was extremely successful not only with the Colts, but also with the New York Jets when they beat us in Super Bowl III, famous for (Joe) Namath's prediction of victory. He was a heck of a coach."
As it turned out, Hill never had to fall back on the Denver Broncos. He played 10 seasons in the NFL, all for the Colts. During his career the Colts were 97-38 with a pair of Super Bowl appearances, losing to the Jets, and beating Dallas in Super Bowl V. He played for two of pro football's most famous coaches, Ewbank and Don Shula.
"I was lucky to play when I did," he says. "The Colts were really good and Alan (The Horse) Ameche (Heisman Trophy winner in college and star in the NFL) had just retired. That was obviously good for me, it gave me a chance to play some.
"Let's face it, the Colts drafted me as a blocking back. I became a solid blocker at Wyoming thanks to Coach 'Crash' Corgan who taught me how to be a good one. The Colts needed someone to protect (John) Unitas in the backfield, and that was me. I would only carry the ball eight to ten times a game. But I could help keep people away from John. I was the designated Unitas protector."
Ever-so-modest, Hill actually rushed for 2,668 yards while playing in 102 NFL games. He also caught 112 passes during his career. He even told me the terminology the Colts used for his particular pass play, pretty impressive for a man of 81 years!
"We had so many good players then, Raymond Berry, Lenny Moore, Tom Matte, Jim Parker, Dan Sullivan, Bubba Smith, Gino Marchetti, Art Donovan and of course Unitas. I have stayed in touch with a lot of them through the years. When I had my business in Denver, Unitas would come through and we'd get together. Some of those guys have passed away unfortunately.
"We didn't make much money, but we had a lot of fun playing."
An interesting side note to Hill's professional career. You've heard of Colt 45 Malt Liquor? In 1963 the National Brewing Company which developed and marketed the product named it after Hill who wore 45 for the Colts! All this time I thought it was named after a gun!
"They wanted to name the product Colt 45," Hill says matter-of-factly and with his usual modesty. "I just happened to be the Colt who was wearing 45.
"I wish I would have gotten paid for it," he laughs, "but the big advertisers had deals with the league at that time, not the players. I've thought about writing them and saying 'hey you owe me money so I can catch up with the guys who are making big money now. I haven't done it yet though," he quips.
When Hill's professional career was over, he went into the floor-covering business in Denver. He had that business for 20 years before retiring and moving to the Sheridan area.
"I've always loved Wyoming. I've been very fortunate in my life whether it was in football or business. Wyoming is where I always wanted to be, especially up here in this beautiful place (Sheridan). The body is giving me trouble here and there, but I still enjoy life."
