[7] Despite a slow start which he attributed to an ankle sprain,[8] Hill led the so-called "Baby Jackets" in ground gains,[9] in part because future College Hall of Famer Randy Rhino was moved to defense.
[10] Hill's second year started slow again on a weak team, and he was redshirted partway into the season, although head coach Bill Fulcher called him "probably as good a back as we have at Tech".
[6] He signed a contract with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers of the CFL in the spring of 1976,[18] but suffered a dislocated shoulder during the preseason and left training camp[19] with no appearance on record in the regular season.
[20] Hill's acting break came when he was scouted at a Los Angeles beach and offered the small part of a lifeguard in a production called One of a Kind.
Around the same time, the actor made another push for a leading role with Immortal Soldier, an android film which he co-wrote and was to feature genre veterans Maria Conchita Alonso, Jeff Wincott, Robert Davi, Michael Ironside and Louise Fletcher.
After that one was optioned, his agent tried to pitch him as a writer for a planned biopic of Pete Rose,[30] a fellow Ohioan with whom Hill had become acquainted at a 1986 celebrity softball game.
[33] Hill met Espy during a public speaking engagement, and the idea of the book was suggested to him by former Tech basketball player Roger Kaiser, an admirer of the doctor's career.
[34] Note: This Rick Hill is not to be confused with several homonyms, including an Australian actor and a kickboxer who appeared in Bloodfist II for his frequent employer Roger Corman.