Hill One of Seven to Accomplish Athletic/Academic Triple

May 17, 2006

Former Clemson cornerback Tye Hill was one of seven Division I football players to be chosen in the first round of the NFL Draft, be selected a first-team All-American by at least one of the five major services, and earn an undergraduate degree in the 2005-06 academic year.

Hill was named a first-team Walter Camp All-American and a first-team Sporting News All-American for his accomplishments on the field this past fall for Tommy Bowden’s top 25 team that finished the year by winning six of its last seven games. Hill had 54 tackles, five tackles for loss, 10 passes broken up and three interceptions for a Tiger defense that ranked 11th nationally in scoring defense and 16th in pass efficiency defense.

In April, Hill was a first-round draft selection of the St. Louis Rams, the 15th pick of the entire draft. He was the first Tiger taken in the first round since Rod Gardner in April of 2001.

Hill earned his undergraduate degree in human resource development in December of 2005, just prior to playing his last game for the Tigers in the 2005 Champs Sports Bowl in Orlando.

Hill, a native of St. George, SC, is the ninth Clemson football player to be honored as a first-team All-American, be selected a first-round draft choice and earn an undergraduate degree. He is the first to do it since the aforementioned Gardner, who was a senior on Clemson’s 2000 team and is still in the NFL with the Green Bay Packers.

The other student-athletes to be selected in the first round of the NFL draft, earn first-team All-American honors by at least one of the five major services (AP, Walter Camp, Football Writers, Football Coaches, Sporting News) and earn an undergraduate degree are D’Brickashaw Ferguson of Virginia, Tamba Hali of Penn State, Matt Leinart of Southern Cal, A.J. Hawk of Ohio State, Michael Huff of Texas and Mathias Kiwanuka of Boston College.

Athletic/Academic TriplePlayer SchoolPos NFL TeamSelection D.Brickashaw Ferguson Virginia OT NYJets 4 Tama Hali Penn State DE Kansas City Chiefs 20 A.J. Hawk OhioState LB Green Bay Packers 5 Tye HillClemson CB St.Louis 15 Michael Huff Texas SS OaklandRaiders 7 Mathias Kiwanuka Boston College DE NY Giants 32 MattLeinart Southern Cal QB Arizona Cardinals 10

Note: Players above were a first-round draft choice, first-team All-American by at least one service and earned a college degree.