Roy Hilton was born March 23, 1943, in Hazlehurst, Mississippi, a town of about 3,100 people located in the southwestern part of the state.

[3] Hilton received a bachelor's degree in health and physical education from Jackson State in 1965.

[3] Coming into the NFL as a rookie for the Baltimore Colts in the 1965 season — Hilton was regarded as "skinny,"[1] listed on the club's 1965 roster at a weight of just 225 pounds[5] — although the team saw his potential and made a spot on the roster for him as a special teams player.

[6] In the 1967 season he was able to work into starting role at left defensive end, hearing his name called as a starter in 8 of the team's 14 games that year.

[7] The 1968 season would be an important one for the Colts, who would win the 1968 NFL Championship Game before suffering an upseat defeat in Super Bowl III at the hands of Joe Namath and the upstart New York Jets of the AFL.

He was bigger and stronger than me..."[8] The Colts would make it back to the big show after capturing the Western Division crown in the 1970 NFL season.

In Super Bowl V, held in January 1971 against the Dallas Cowboys, Hilton played the game of his life.

[8] After the game, Colts head coach Don McCafferty walked up to Hilton, embraced him, and whispered the single word, "Thanks.

[10] Some observers speculated that the trade may have been related to the new front office regime in Baltimore, with new owner Robert Irsay's general manager Joe Thomas rapidly emptying the roster of players obtained under owner Carroll Rosenbloom.

"[14] A landing spot was found with the Atlanta Falcons, who cut veteran defensive lineman Rosie Manning to make room on the roster for Hilton.

[15] The Falcons would go into a tailspin, however, dropping their next five games in a row, en route to a record of 4–10, with the defense receiving its share of the blame.

After retiring from football in 1975, Hilton became a security guard for Johns Hopkins University, a job he held for twenty years.