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Counting on Hill
Wolfpack will rely on fifth-year senior, who missed last season with knee injury, to provide leadership to receiving corps
“It feels great to be back right now.”
Anthony Hill
an N.C. State tight end
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Published: August 27, 2008
RALEIGH - It has been 21 months since N.C. State's Anthony Hill caught his last pass in anything other than practice or a scrimmage.
The last time that Hill played, he caught four passes in the Wolfpack's loss to East Carolina to end the 2006 season. He tore the anterior-cruciate ligament in his left knee while working out the next summer, and missed all of last season.
In some ways, fitting back into his starting spot at tight end has been like getting back on a bicycle. In other ways, it has been even easier.
Hill remembers that the toughest part of his rehabilitation came when he was told to ride a stationary bicycle in the weeks after his surgery.
"You would think it would be easy," Hill said recently. "But that was painful just being able to move your leg in a full rotation. That was probably the most difficult part. That was very, very painful."
The pain has subsided and all the rehabilitation will pay off on Thursday night when the Wolfpack opens its season at South Carolina. It's a day that Hill has been looking forward to ever since he got back on the bike.
"It feels great to be back right now," he said. "It was definitely frustrating being out, and at times it was very, very hard, just to see your team out there and you know you're not helping your team out, your friends out. But now I'm back and I'm trying to do everything possible to help the team."
Hill, a 6-6, 265-pound fifth-year senior and second-team All-ACC pick in 2006, may be N.C. State's best player. He'll definitely be one of quarterback Russell Wilson's favorites on Thursday night, as Wilson gets the first start of his college career. N.C. State is thin on experience at the wide-receiver spots, and Hill provides a big target for Wilson on short and relatively safe pass routes.
"I think he's potentially the best tight end in this conference, and maybe the country," Coach Tom O'Brien said. "He's a very powerful man. He blocks extremely well, he can get down the field, he's got strong hands catching the football, and then he's able to run with the football after he catches it."
Hill caught 45 passes for 478 yards in 2006. He caught seven passes for 84 yards against North Carolina, and also caught seven passes against Akron that season. He had six catches each against Virginia and Georgia Tech.
"I'm a much better player now," he said. "I'm a much more mature player. I know that I have to work hard. I know that I can't sit back and think the game is going to be promised to me, because the game could be gone on one play, or not even in a game. That's how I tore my ACL in the first place.
"I got to learn Coach O'Brien's program while I was out. I got my flexibility up as well. There were a whole lot of positives that came out of it. I like to call it a minor setback for a major comeback. You know, I feel like I have stepped up my game a lot because I was out, and that's why I'm so eager for (Thursday) to get here."
The rehabilitation, Hill said, was a lonely process at times. He was encouraged by the fact that teammates Jamelle Eugene and Jarvis Williams had suffered the same injury and had bounced back earlier in their careers, and he was mindful that many NFL players routinely come back from ACL surgery.
And, he was emboldened by the fact that he had dealt with adversity and been tested in other ways earlier. He spent a year at Hargrave Military Academy before coming to State, and that experience left a distinct impression on him. And, he suffered the highs and lows of playing in Chuck Amato's program before Amato was fired after the 2006 season.
"I got a whole lot of rehab, and a lot of times I was there by myself and it was definitely tough," Hill said. "But, you know, all I ever thought about was all the things I had been through before. I mean, I went to Hargrave, and that was harder than any kind of rehab that I've ever went through. I had Coach Amato with me two or three years before that, and his system is hard.
"You think about all the things you've been through and it keeps you going. I looked at rehab as almost like going through football practice. Whether you want to do it or you don't want to do it, it's something you've got to do."
O'Brien calls the entire ordeal a blessing in disguise.
"Losing a player of his caliber like we did last year was a tough loss for the team," O'Brien said. "But he's back, he's ready to go. It was a blessing in disguise because he's on track to get his degree in December, which he probably wouldn't have done if he would have left. So I think everything worked out the best for him and hopefully he'll have a great year."
■ John Delong can be reached at jdelong@wsjournal.com.
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