NFL Dreams: Back to Southern Illinois..for a few days

By Nick Hill/Special to The Call, Du Quoin Evening Call

Saturday, March 1, 2008

Hello again to everyone back in Du Quoin, this past week was my last week training at ignition in Cincinnati. I really could not have asked for more in a training experience and facility. The trainers here at ignition not only care about you as an athlete but, more importantly, they want to see you grow as a person. I have made relationships here with new friends that I will have the rest of my life. The training I received here was great and I am leaving here in the best shape of my life. I feel confident that I will test well in my workouts because of the time I have spent here.

After observing the times that quarterbacks recorded at the combine, my goal is to have my times rank in the top 5 in every tested category for quarterbacks. I will now be heading back to Southern Illinois for a few days, working out at SIU. I felt is was important for me to throw to the receivers I will be throwing to at my pro day before we actually do it in front of the scouts. One of the receivers will be my teammate, Alan Turner. We will work out together on Monday and Tuesday before heading to Champaign to throw with two University of Illinois receivers and one Eastern Illinois receiver the rest of the week. This way we can get used to each other and get our timing down on different routes.

The month of March is going to be pretty busy for me, with two pro days, on the 12th and 18th, a visit with the Bears on the 19th, and the beginning of my student teaching on the 17th. Back when I was selecting an agent I felt it was important to select one that would allow me to finish my degree. With the cooperation of SIU, I will be doing half of my student teaching the rest of this semester. It really worked out well, because after my pro days, its a lot of waiting around until the draft on April 26th and 27th.

Now I will be able to do 8 weeks of my student teaching this semester and then, hopefully, finish the other 8 weeks sometime next year. I will be in a third grade classroom at Thomas Elementary School in Carbondale. I really felt it was important to find a way to get my degree and it looks like I will have that chance. Although I hope it works out and I can play a game the rest of my life, statistics show that the average life span of an NFL player is less than 2 years. So having a backup plan isn’t a bad idea.

Before I go, I would like to congratulate the Du Quoin High School basketball team on a good season. You achieved more than a lot of people thought you could and you should be proud of being regional champs.

Until next time, take care !

Nick Hill