Drew Hill, 1956–2011

When Drew Hill started catching passes for the Houston Oilers in 1985, most coaches favored tall, strong pass-catchers who could fight defensive backs for possession of the ball. Not Houston coach Jerry Glanville, though. With an offense that relied on short, accurate passes from the Oilers’ gifted quarterback, Warren Moon, Glanville used the 5-foot, 9-inch Hill to explode quickly off the line and get open before startled defensive backs could cover him—or even find him.

Hill caught passes with his head as much as with his hands, said The New York Times. Born in tiny Newnan, Ga., Hill played for Georgia Tech before being drafted in 1979 by the Los Angeles (now St. Louis) Rams. But it was as a member of the Houston Oilers, to whom he was traded after the 1984 season, that he enjoyed his greatest football success. He thrived in the run-and-shoot offense—an accelerated variant of Glanville’s—installed by newly hired coach Jack Pardee in 1990. Pardee’s offense required his receivers to “accurately read the coverage and adjust their routes accordingly”—all while running at full speed. “The thing that makes him so good,” Oilers assistant coach Kevin Gilbride said of him, “is that he always makes the right decisions.”

Coaches relied on Hill’s productivity—he caught passes for more than 1,000 yards five times during his 14-year career. Quarterbacks appreciated that he made them look good, said the Associated Press. He “knew the offense and was always in the right spot,” said former Oilers quarterback Moon.

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After his retirement in 1993, Hill lived in Atlanta, where he dabbled in art and business. He died of a massive stroke. Summing up his football career, he once said, “It’s not too bad for a scrawny kid out of Newnan, I guess.”