The past 72 hours for former Baltimore Ravens' safety Will Hill have not been kind. First Hill hears that veteran safety Eric Weddle will be joining the Ravens, which in turn will likely limit his snaps or see him released. Then he is released hours after Weddle signs, and then the NFL hits him with a bombshell.
Hill was suspended for 10 games for violating the league's substance abuse policy. This will be his fourth violation in four seasons, and this one may cost him his career. Hill's first suspensions came while he was a member of the New York Giants. As a member of the Giants, he was suspended for four games in 2012 for testing positive for performance enhancing drugs; in 2013 he violated the league's substance abuse protocol.
Finally in 2014 he was suspended for six games for violating the same policy, and that is when the Giants decided to say goodbye. No NFL team will even take a shot with Hill until his suspension is up, and he played horribly to end the 2015 regular season.
The Ravens started cornerback Ladarius Webb over Hill for the final two regular season games which could have sealed his fate right there. The saddest part is Hill is only 26 and could have still had a long and productive NFL career ahead of him. Hill's stats from 2015 are average at best, as he recorded 14 starts, 64 combined tackles, one sack, six pass defenses and an interception.
Throughout his entire career Hill has amassed 221 combined tackles, a sack, 14 pass defenses, four interceptions, two defensive touchdowns and three orced fumbles. It was only in August of the 2015 season when the Ravens signed Hill to a $7 million extension which included $5.16 million guaranteed.
Hill will now wait out his suspension and hope to land with a team in 2017. The Ravens will now rely only on Eric Weddle, Jermaine Whitehead and Kendrick Lewis to man the safety position unless they select one during the 2016 NFL Draft. Hill's suspension is just a reminder of how fleeting the dream of being an NFL superstar really can be if you make poor decisions.
