Taysom Hill finally found a role he couldn’t play.
He’s not a eulogizer.
When asked after the Jets-Saints game Sunday to reflect on his time in New Orleans and if it might, indeed, have been the final home game of his legendary tenure in New Orleans, he became emotional. His eyes welled and his voice wobbled as he reflected on his historic nine-year career with the Saints.
“Look, my wife asked me (about the future) this morning, and I didn’t really feel any type of way, but as I was driving to the stadium, you start to think about the last nine years and what it’s meant to me and my family and the city and stuff,” he said. “So, for me personally, you just try to take it all in. (My family) had a great experience here tonight, and I don’t know what the future holds for me, but it was a special day.”
If this was Hill’s final home game as a Saint — and it sure seemed that way, given how Hill and the Saints treated it — then it is important to take a moment to reflect on his legacy and recognize his greatness.
His rare physical skill set translated into one of the surprising and remarkable careers in league history.
Hill came to the Saints an unknown, as an obscure waiver-wire claim from the Green Bay Packers in the fall of 2017. The former undrafted free agent from Brigham Young quickly developed into a multi-purpose weapon thanks to the utility role former Saints coach Sean Payton fashioned for him.
Hill became so effective as a multipurpose Swiss Army Knife that NFL teams across the league tried to mimic the Saints’ success with him. Several teams drafted or signed athletic college quarterbacks in the late rounds and tried to make them their version of Hill, among them Jalen Milroe (Seahawks), Easton Stick (Chargers), Nick Fitzgerald (Bucs), Trace McSorley (Ravens) and Eric Dungey (Giants). The Saints even tried to get a younger version of him in 2020, when they drafted Tommy Stevens out of Mississippi State.
They learned what so many others did over the years. While many players may possess some of Hill’s traits, none had the combination of size, elite athleticism and unselfish mindset that made Hill a unicorn.
Physically speaking, Hill is one of one. He is faster than Alvin Kamara and as strong as some of the Saints linemen. He is agile enough to line up at wide receiver and can throw a football into the end zone from midfield.
Sunday was another vintage Hill performance. With a large group of friends and family watching from the stands, he ran 12 times for a team-high 42 yards. He added four catches for 36 yards and capped the day with a beautiful 38-yard touchdown pass to Chris Olave.
The performance left Hill with 2,388 yards passing, 2,545 yards rushing, and 1,002 career yards receiving, making him the only player in modern NFL history with more than 1,000 yards passing, rushing, and receiving.
That’s not the only feat of his you’ll find in the NFL record books.
Hill is the first player in modern NFL history to score double-digit touchdowns three different ways in his career — as a rusher, receiver and passer.
He’s the first player since the NFL merger in 1970 to run for three touchdowns, pass for another and return a kickoff in the same game.
During his career, he also blocked two punts and served as the personal protector on the punt team, the role he was in Sunday when he converted a fourth-and-1 on a fake punt.
Throughout it all, Hill has remained as humble and unassuming as the day he walked into camp nine years ago.
“He’s just a special guy,” coach Kellen Moore said. “He’s an A-plus person and an A-plus player. The things he can do from the capacity of having to handle all of these looks, structures and fundamentals that you have to play at all these positions, it’s just really, really special.”
Equally impressive, Hill never sought the spotlight. In a world increasingly populated by shameless self-promoters, Hill is an outlier. The media-shy 35-year-old doesn’t post his workouts on social media, and he doesn’t make the rounds on the national talk show/podcast network. Away from Airline Drive, he prefers to spend his time quietly and privately with family and friends.
“Taysom is by far one of the best players I’ve been around, on and off the field,” tight end Juwan Johnson said. “He’s just such a selfless person, a selfless player. He’s earned everything that he’s got. I’m grateful and I’m honored to be on his team.”
We should never overlook Hill’s extraordinary accomplishments or unique talents. What he did for the Saints is rare and unprecedented.
Everybody is looking for the “next Taysom Hill.”
The reality is, there isn’t one.