In Patriots’ Season to Remember, a Teammate Is Not Forgotten (Marquise Hill, #91, of LSU)

[WilliamPitt]

In Patriots’ Season to Remember, a Teammate Is Not Forgotten
By KAREN CROUSE
The New York Times

Published: January 10, 2008

In one of their last telephone conversations, Marquise Hill confided in his mother, Sherry. Back in his native Louisiana for a weeklong visit before the New England Patriots’ June minicamp, Hill, a 24-year-old reserve defensive lineman, said: “Momma, guess what. I feel like we’re going to be unstoppable.” Sherry Hill’s voice cracked as she recounted the conversation. “All I can say,” she said tearfully, “is Marquise was right.”

If the unbeaten Patriots can defeat Jacksonville on Saturday, earn the American Football Conference championship and win the Super Bowl, their winning streak will reach 19 — Hill’s jersey number transposed. The symbolism is as plain as the No. 91 decal on the Patriots’ helmets, a season-long tribute to him. The 6-foot-6, 300-pound Hill drowned in late May when he fell off a water scooter after dark while riding with a high school friend on Lake Pontchartrain in New Orleans.

It has been difficult for Sherry Hill to follow the Patriots’ pursuit of perfection because of all those 91’s in the huddle, on the defensive line, at the ready, their bid for football immortality bringing into sharp relief, for her and others who loved her son, the frailty of life.

“I get emotional,” she said in a telephone interview, adding: “I appreciate them honoring him this year. But it’s hard for me to see Marquise’s number and to have him not be out there.” Her brother Marcus, who was recruited to Alabama by Bear Bryant, said in a telephone interview, “It’s kind of bittersweet because it does remind you of the great loss we suffered as a family.”

Professional football teams are often depicted as families, but the Patriots showed themselves to be one in the wake of Hill’s death, paying for his funeral and attending it as an organization. Shortly afterward, some of the players suggested that they wear his number on their helmets.

More: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/10/sports/football/10hill.html?ref=sports



Caption: Marquise Hill, 24, was a 6-foot-6, 300-pound reserve defensive lineman for New England drafted out of L.S.U.