When Jim Terwilliger won the Harlon Hill Trophy it gave him the chance to try out with the Minnesota Vikings and the Canadian Football League.

“I wouldn’t have had those opportunities had I not been nominated for that award,” Terwilliger said.

Terwilliger, who won the award in 2005, is one of 22 players to win Division II College Football Player of the Year in the award’s 27-year history. The Harlon Hill Trophy, the Division II equivalent of the Heisman, began in 1986 in honor of Hill’s accomplishments in football. Hill died in March, but his legacy in Division II football continues to thrive.

“He blazed the trail for guys that weren’t Division I athletes to play the sport they loved and pursue it professionally,” Terwilliger said.

Coming from the small football school University of North Alabama, Hill didn’t know much about the NFL. But the Chicago Bears scouted him after a tip from a coach at Jackson State, and drafted Hill 174th overall in the 1954 NFL Draft.

Hill came in as a rookie and had an immediate effect on the Bears’ offense. He racked up 1,124 receiving yards and snagged 12 touchdown receptions his rookie season. Fittingly, he won NFL Rookie of the Year and still holds team rookie records in the Bears’ organization.

This small-town kid from Killen, Ala., paved the way for Division II football players.

“Hill goes to show if you play Division II football at a high level,” Terwilliger said, “you can still do anything you want to do professionally.”

Hill turned in nine full seasons in the NFL and continued to bring a national spotlight to Division II football throughout the ‘50s. He went on to become the first recipient of the Jim Thorpe Trophy in 1955, and he was a three-time Pro Bowler before retiring in 1962.

Upon retirement, Hill returned to his native Alabama where he worked as an assistant football coach at UNA. Hill later pursued his college degree in education and became a principal of a local high school.

Even after his success in the NFL, Hill returned to his roots to help encourage Division II players. Every year he watched as that year’s recipient received his award.

“Harlon always came to these banquets,” North Alabama head coach Bobby Wallace said. “That is until his health began to deteriorate.”

As Hill’s health declined from lung cancer, he would send his son, Jerry Hill, to recognize the winner with a few words. In 2012, Jerry Hill delivered a short speech to Shippensburg (Pa.) University quarterback Zach Zulli when he won the award.

In March, Hill lost his battle with chronic lung cancer.

Zulli was the last player to receive the award while Hill was alive. The power of the award became more meaningful to him once Hill passed away.

“Having this award as mine is pretty special but it’s only going to make me work harder,” Zulli said. “It’s a big accomplishment.”

Hill worked hard not only to open doors for football players, but in his community as well. Months after this death, his legacy still resonates with Florence, Ala.

Hill would make it his duty every season to make it to a UNA football practice. Wallace reminisced on the pep talks Hill gave his team and the last conversation he had with him.

Instead of grieving, Wallace tries to remember all the good things Hill did for Division II football and as a person for the community.

To pay their respects to Hill, Wallace and UNA plan on having a tribute for Hill at a football game. Wallace said there is no set date for the tribute because the family wants more time to heal.

“Everyone still knows who he is and what he did,” Wallace said. “Especially because he came back after his NFL playing years.”

Published on September 9, 2013 at 9:48 pm

Contact Melissa: qsbronso@syr.edu