Have you ever heard of the Florence State Teachers College? What about Harlon Hill?
What about the Chicago Bears?
Ok, so that last one is a gimme, but if the other two aren’t ringing any bells, here’s a little help…
Whet Moser, a writer for Chicago Magazine named Alabamian Harlon Hill the best receiver the Chicago Bears franchise has ever seen.
Hill, who passed away in 2013, attended Florence State Teachers College, now the University of North Alabama, and was chosen by the Bears in the 15th round of the then very new NFL draft in 1954.
Far from being the glamorous, highly televised event the draft is today, back then Harlon Hill was selected to play for the Bears, but wasn’t even really sure what the NFL even was.
“I was surprised when I found out I was drafted by the Bears,” Hill told Pro Football Researchers in 1983. “I had no idea I had been ‘discovered.’ I really did not know much about the National Football League. I was walking across campus and Mr. Van Pelt—who is still down there—he came up to me and told me about it. I did not know what to think, but after I found out what it was all about, naturally I was elated.”
In 1954, Harlon Hill began his career in stellar fashion. Whet Moser wrote:
Hill led the league with a 25.0 yards-per-reception average and 12 touchdowns, and finished second in yards with 1,124—252 more than the third-place finisher—and third in yards from scrimmage, averaging 93.7 yards per game. Hill’s yards per catch that season ranks 13th all time.
Hill fell back a bit in 1955—789 yards, 18.8 yards per catch, and 65.8 yards per game, ranking third in each. But he still led the league in receiving touchdowns.
1956 was Hill’s last great season—24 yards per catch, first in the NFL; 1,128 yards, just 60 behind Green Bay’s Billy Howton; 94 yards per game, five behind Howton; and 11 touchdowns, one fewer than Howton. And he made what was, at the time, considered one of the all-time great catches.
Injuries sidelined Hill in 1957, and he eventually lost his starting position in 1960, but the numbers he put up during his short career are impressive.
Moser compared the numbers of Hill to former Chicago Bears standout wide receiver Brandon Marshall, who was traded to the Jets just last week.
While Harlon Hill isn’t a household name, at least Moser thinks he should be.
Hill’s number hasn’t been retired by the Bears; his prime simply didn’t last long enough,” Moser wrote. “But for three years, Harlon Hill was a real star—a big, fast, acrobatic, entertaining wide receiver at the dawn of the position, and probably still the best they’ve had since.”
Check out this amazing catch by #87 Harlon Hill:
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— Elizabeth BeShears (@LizEBeesh) January 21, 2015
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