Ex-Eagle King Hill dies at 75

FOR THE FIRST player picked in the 1958 NFL draft, King Hill didn't have much of a career as a quarterback. In his 12 years in the NFL, he started 30 games and went 7-22-1.

But Hill, after being traded from the St. Louis Cardinals, made his mark with the Eagles as a punter while also serving as backup QB to Sonny Jurgensen and Norm Snead from 1961 to '68.

Hill, who later served the Eagles as a scout, died Saturday at the age of 75 after a long battle with cancer.

Hill finished his Eagles career with a 42.38-yard average on his 254 punts. His best season was 1961 when he averaged 43.69 yards. Hill's career gross punting average ranks fourth in team history and his 80-yarder against Green Bay on Nov. 11, 1962 is tied for third-longest in franchise history.

Hill started 17 of the 71 games he played for the Eagles, and passed for 4,308 yards and 29 touchdowns. His most productive season was 1963, when he threw for 1,213 yards and 10 touchdowns (and was picked off 17 times).

He was the Eagles' regional scout for the Western United States and Canada from 1986-92.

"King was a real gentleman, a real classy guy," said former Eagles publicist Jim Gallagher. "He was a quiet guy, a great golfer and a good person. He did a lot for us. Everybody liked King a lot. He had a nice smile to him, was just one of those kind of guys."

Of his Eagles years, Hill told the Daily News in 2008: "I just remember feeling a part of a team. It was just a great relationship that those guys had. It's kind of hard to have teams like that anymore because it's such an individual situation with the free agency and ridiculous contracts out there today. Back then, it was just fun."

The teams just weren't that good. In Hill's 8 years, they went 43-63-1 under Nick Skorich and Joe Kuharich.

Hill, who played collegiately at Rice, was traded to Minnesota after the 1968 season and finished his career with the Cardinals in 1968.

After he left scouting and coaching football, he eventually settled in Houston and served as a golf-course marketing director.

He retained a close connection to his alma mater, Rice, which he led to a major upset on Nov. 16, 1957. He scored the tying touchdown and kicked the winning extra point when Rice ended No. 1 Texas A&M's 19-game winning streak at Rice Stadium with a 7-6 victory on Nov. 16, 1957.

Also, playing safety, he had two interceptions and saved the game with a fourth-quarter tackle of Aggies running back John David Crow, who went on to win the Heisman Trophy.