CB Tye Hill ready for life as an Atlanta Falcon
At 8 a.m., Tuesday, cornerback Tye Hill was a Ram, sitting in a meeting room in Earth City, getting ready for Thursday’s preseason finale against Kansas City. Less than eight hours later, he was in Atlanta, taking a physical, and getting ready for his new career as a Falcon.
“It was definitely a surprise,” Hill told the Post-Dispatch Tuesday night.
Hill’s morning at Rams Park was interrupted by a call to the office of coach Steve Spagnuolo. This time of year, such a summons normally isn’t a good thing. Obviously, it wasn’t this time, either.
“(Spagnuolo) told me the Rams are trying to build,” Hill said. “I can definitely see that. . . .They said they needed some picks. I understand that.”
In the case of the Hill trade, it turned out to be only one pick _ and a seventh-rounder at that. Which tells you the Rams probably were thinking of cutting Hill, and tried to get something for him. In keeping with Hill’s sunny-side-up personality, he took no parting shots as he left the Rams.
He liked the players, liked the new coaching staff, and had a lot of friends in the locker room.
“I wish nothing but the best for the Rams,” he said. “I’m going to miss my teammates. I’m going to miss St. Louis. I’ve got to move on.”
Hill departed so quickly Tuesday morning for Atlanta, he had time to say goodbye to only a few teammates.
“I’m going to miss those guys,” Hill said. “I think the Rams are going to be really good. Spags is the right guy for the job.”
Similarly, Hill had good things to say about Jonathan Wade, his probable successor.
“I think he’s going to be a good player for St. Louis,” Hill said. “He’s definitely come a long way.”
As of Tuesday night, Hill said he wasn’t familiar with what the Falcons had on their depth chart at the cornerback position. But he’s looking forward to the challenge, and excited about the opportunity to play only about two hours from his South Carolina home.
“That’s the biggest thing. I’m closer to home,” Hill said. “Now my family and friends can see me play. It’s always a great opportunity when you get a fresh start. Hopefully, it’s a good move for St. Louis. Definitely it’s a great move for me.”
This will not turn out well for the Rams.
Good riddance, Tye. As you said, now your friends and family can watch you get burned instead of my friends and family. And after the games, you can take your people for a below average meal at Golden Corral.
Dan- How could it get any worse than Tye Hill? Wake up man, this isn’t the old Rams. They are going the right direction.
Classy comments from Hill. I didn’t like Hill as a player, and I think the Rams made the right move, but he showed himself to be a true classy professional. Best of luck to him.
Every time I look at the comments at the end of a column, I keep hoping to find some sort of intelligent comment to help me enjoy the give and take over the Ram’s future. Instead, I see comments from folks like Philip. I don’t understand why there is a need to spit out such mean-spirited garbage. There is plenty of room for discussion without getting ugly. Tye Hill doesn’t deserve it. He is a class act that simply did not work out. What if some coach at Atlanta says “Hey, Tye, you are not tall enough to go for interceptions all the time — just jump up there and bat the ball away!” He has the speed to get there. He just needs to change his goal. Knock the ball out of the stadium. Intercept the ones that hit you in the chest. My prediction: he would become a super corner. But he has to realize he is not 6′ 2″
My point, above, is that it is easier to get yourself into position to hit the ball, than to get into position with both hands to try to intercept. The receiver has to get both hands up there to catch it. The cornerback only needs to get one hand up. You can get about 8″ higher using one hand to reach up, and you can jump a lot higher when not worrying about catching the ball. In watching Tye, it just seemed like there were many times he was trying to intercept when he really should have just put one hand up in front of the ball.
I guess I fail to see where Philip’s comment was mean-spirited. He’s right on… how could it get worse than the player Tye Hill was in St. Louis? He had three years to figure out his goals and to realize he isn’t 6′ 2″. This isn’t about Tye Hill the person, it’s about the football player, and he was a bust as a first round draft pick. In fact, based on his play, was taken about five rounds too early. But good luck to Tye… and here’s to the Rams continuing to rid themselves of ineffective players.
Bizfran is right on the money regarding the rudeness of some people like Phillip. To help SRV1900 understand what Bizfran meant, if Phillip is glad that Hill is no longer here then just saying “glad that he got traded” is fine. But to say good riddance and rambling about his family wathcing while getting burned and going to a below average meal is just mean spirited. Tye Hill was extremely gracious when given bad news. He could have easily made a bunch of negative comments but instead took the high road and offered nothing but compliments to his former employer. I hope that Tye finds success and Phillip finds the ability to be gracious as well.
Classy comments. He didn’t play well here but good luck in ATL.
I agree. Philip’s an a$$.