POCATELLO, Idaho- Josh Hill made a name for himself on a national level this past season as he earned third-team AP All-American honors while catching 70 passes for 630 yards and five touchdowns. Hill has added to his post season accolades as he will be playing in the 88th East-West Shrine Game at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida.
“This is a great opportunity to play with some of the best players in the nation,” Hill said. “It has been intense but it has been a lot of fun.”
Hill is one of three tight ends on the roster for the West. The other two tight ends are Joseph Fauria from UCLA and Zach Sudfeld from Nevada.
Hill received the invitation on Thursday, January 10 and was on a plane Saturday for Florida. Practices started on Monday and Hill said he has been kept busy since then. A typical day leading up to Saturday's game starts with breakfast from 7-8:30 a.m. The players are in position meetings from 9-11:30 a.m. watching film and they have an hour break before practice starts. Following practice the team eats dinner before being allowed to have the night to themselves.
The Bengal All-American, who graduated in December in sports management, is enjoying the opportunity he has to practice and play in front of NFL scouts this week.
“I just want to have fun,” Hill said. “I have been blessed with this great opportunity and I want to prove to scouts that I can play with the best guys in the nation.”
Hill is only the fourth Bengal to play in the game as Matt Courtney played in the game in 1983, Jared Allen in 2003 and Matt Gutierrez in 2006.
Hill caught 70 passes, the second most on the team in 2012, for 630 yards and five touchdowns while earning second-team all-conference honors. For his career he finished with 143 receptions and 1,270 yards and nine touchdowns. This year he had a career-high 12 receptions two different times, most recently at Cal Poly and he had a career-high 123 yards receiving vs. Sacramento State.
“From the end of last season to the final play of the 2012 season no player improved more than
Josh Hill,” Idaho State coach
Mike Kramer said. “He worked extremely hard all season and it showed by his production on the field.”
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