Rod Hill arrived in Winnipeg prior to the 1988 Canadian Football League season with an already long list of meaty credentials.
He was a first-round selection of the Dallas Cowboys in the 1982 NFL Draft, 25th overall, had been traded to the Buffalo Bills. And over the course of his days down south he appeared in 44 games, including time with the Detroit Lions and Los Angeles Raiders.
All that after starring at the University of Kentucky during his college days.
Yet, when he came north in 1988 to man one of the two cornerback spots, it should be said Hill provided an already stout Blue Bombers defence with a lockdown defender who had a knack for picking off passes and en route to becoming a key contributor on Grey Cup championship teams in 1988 and 1990.
Hill, with 47 interceptions, tops the list of Blue Bomber defenders with the most picks in the latest instalment of our ’10 Lists in 10 Days’ series.
A few facts about Hill’s 47 picks:
-He had seven in ’88, his first in the CFL and then had 12 in both 1989 and 1990.
-During a win over Hamilton in September of 1990 Hill picked off five passes — FIVE — to set a new CFL record. (Of note: Blue Bomber legend Bud Grant holds the CFL playoff record with five interceptions in a win over Hamilton in 1953 — four years before he became the team’s head coach).
-Hill’s dozen interceptions in ’89 led the CFL, but his 12 a year later was second most to teammate Less Browne, who had 14 picks manning the opposite corner.
Just to put the two guys in double-digit in interceptions total in perspective — no one in the entire CFL has reached 10 since Browne followed up his 14-pick season with 10 more in 1991.
As dominant as Hill was at the corner, he was also greatly appreciated by CFL media for his outspoken and honest opinions.
He was also an all-world trash talker with no one safe from his verbal barrages. Example — this from an interview he did with Steve Lyons of the Winnipeg Free Press in 1991 about how he used to welcome new players to the Blue Bombers locker room:
“I’ll ask him what school he’s from. Then, I’ll tell him he must have been the ugliest player to ever played at that school. The guys always get a big kick out of it and the guy is usually thinking, ‘Man, this guy is crazy.’
“When a young guy comes in, he’s kind of skeptical, he doesn’t know anyone. You’ve got to get him off on the right track. There’s no harm intended. It’s just my initiation.”
Hill, FYI, was inducted into the Winnipeg Football Club’s Hall of Fame in 1996.
Blue Bombers All-Time Interception leaders:
1. Rod Hill, (1988-92) — 47
2. Norm Rauhaus, (1956-67) — 34
3. Gord Rowland, (1954-64) — 31
T-4. Reggie Pierson, (1978-83) — 27
Less Browne, (1989-91) — 27
Ken Hailey, (1983-91) — 27
7. Roy Bennett, (1985-87) — 26
8. Ed Ulmer, (1965-71) — 25
T-9. Tom Casey, (1950-55) – 23
Jovon Johnson, (2008-12) — 23