Shaun Hill

Shaun Christopher Hill (born January 9, 1980) is an American former professional football player who was a quarterback for 15 seasons in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Maryland Terrapins. Hill was signed by the Minnesota Vikings as an undrafted free agent in 2002. He also played for the Amsterdam Admirals, San Francisco 49ers, Detroit Lions, and St. Louis Rams.

Hill attended Parsons Senior High School in Parsons, Kansas, where he was a three-year starter at quarterback and 2-year starter at free safety on the high school football team. He was a two-time All-Southeast Kansas League 1st-team selection and an honorable mention All-State as a senior.

In addition to football, Hill also lettered in basketball, track and baseball. As a team captain in hoops, he was a three-time All-SEK 1st-team choice and earned All-State honors 3 consecutive years while guiding Parsons to the state tournament as a sophomore and senior. He played all five positions at times for the small school program, and set career marks for assists, steals, blocks, and 3-point field goals. In track & field, he ran sprints (100m, 200m, 4 × 100 m, 4 × 400 m) as a junior and senior and even qualified for the state championships in three events during his final year. He played as a shortstop and pitcher in baseball, and was a second team All-conference pick as a sophomore.

Hill was not highly recruited out of high school. Nearby Pittsburg State University offered him a scholarship as a punter, not a quarterback. Because of this, Hill elected to spend two years at Hutchinson Community College. While there, Hill beat out five players to start at QB for both years, earning honorable mention All-American honors as a freshman and sophomore. His junior college success garnered him Division I attention, and he eventually decided to attend college at University of Maryland. While serving primarily as a backup as a junior, he led the Maryland Terrapins to their first Atlantic Coast Conference title since 1985 as a senior in 2001. They earned a trip to the 2002 Orange Bowl and finished the year ranked #10 in the country. He finished his Maryland career with 3,158 yards and 19 touchdowns.

Hill was not considered an NFL prospect, was not invited to the 2002 NFL Scouting Combine, and, went undrafted in the 2002 NFL draft. He ended up signing as a free agent with the Minnesota Vikings, where he spent the season as a 3rd-string backup. He took his first career snaps for the Vikings on the final two plays of the 2005 NFL season, taking a knee both times.

In order to get more experience, Hill spent the spring of 2003 with the Amsterdam Admirals of NFL Europe, where he led the league in passing yards and tied for second in touchdowns.

Hill entered the 2006 NFL preseason third on the San Francisco 49ers depth chart, behind Trent Dilfer and Alex Smith. He went 15/23 (65.2%) for 162 yards, no touchdowns and one interception. He spent the 2006 regular season on the sidelines, taking no snaps.

Hill completed 13 of 20 passes for 148 yards with one interception in the San Francisco 49ers' 17-13 preseason opening loss to the Denver Broncos on August 16, 2007. He demonstrated great pocket mobility but had difficulty in the red zone, throwing one interception in his first drive and then nearly throwing an interception at almost exactly the same place the second time down the field. In the last game of the 2007 preseason against the San Diego Chargers, Hill attempted to put the 49ers in field goal range to tie the game. With 16 seconds left on the clock, he threw two deep balls to his wide receivers but both missed their targets, and the second was intercepted, ending the game with the Chargers ahead, 16–13.