Bad Bad Leroy Hill
Football players running into trouble with the law is about as common as European football players taking a dive in the middle of the game. The league is abound with examples, such as Chris Henry, Brandon Marshall, Dante Stallworth, and the now infamous in P.E.T.A. circles, Michael Vick.
American footballers and the cops have a relationship that is tantamount to kinship- as though they are bonded by a feudal blood oath. Lady Justice seems to find herself sharing bed space with an increasing amount of players every year, in fact the situation’s gotten so bad it almost seems as though cuffs should be a mandatory part of the equipment, the same way shoulder pads are.
It is with all this in mind that I present to you the case of Leroy Hill. The question has been on everybody’s mind since training camp: What future is there for Leroy Hill as a functioning, productive member of the Seattle Seahawks?
Hill was arrested by the Issaquah police department (a suburb of Seattle) and charged with fourth-degree assault & domestic violence after a dispute with his live-in girlfriend in the early days of April of this year; just days after reaching a plea deal with the state of Georgia on marijuana charges.
This led to him having been unable to train with the team during the larger portion of the off-season training program. Hill was also suspended from participating in the Seahawks' first game against San Francisco for violating the league's substance abuse policy.
Now the once revered linebacker, who’s been a starter since the middle of his rookie season, is finding himself in a position no man wants to be in.
Due to smooth operating on behalf of his lawyers, and leniency on behalf of his live-in girlfriend, Hill managed to avoid trial on the assault charges. This allowed him access to the first week of training during which he injured his knee, keeping him out of the rest of the training period. It seems as though a dark cloud of disaster follows this marquee player everywhere he goes.
The original contract Leroy Hill signed in 2009 called for him to receive $6 million in 2010, and now just a few short months later, his status, his career, and his very literal freedom are all being called into question.
The contract he had signed in 2009 was guaranteed against skill and injury, perhaps it would be wise for Hill’s next contract to guarantee against prison time as well.
The gods of sports have found clemency and Hill’s contract was reworked. According to the salary database on the NFL Players Association website Hill will now make $2.125 million as his base salary for the 2010-2011 season. Though that may be considerably less than half of what he was expecting to make, $2 million isn’t a bad sum to settle for. Add to the potential for a $60 thousand roster bonus and the possibility of an extra $300 thousand in incentives and you’ve got yourself a very good worst-case scenario.
ESPN reported today that all future years were removed from his contract and that on top of that he is to become a free agent in the spring. One could easily surmise that his off-the-field legal entanglements have made him a bit of a liability in the eyes of Seahawk management. Maybe that’s true, but it’s far too early to write Mr. Hill off as a lost cause just yet.
If the Seahawks had made the decision to get rid of Hill there would’ve been no reason for them to renegotiate his contract, therefore it is safe to say that Hill will be making an appearance on this season’s roster. But when evaluating Hill's potential for survival within the Seahawks organisation in the long run, I’m tempted it’s not looking too good. In fact, the potential for Hill to just keep himself outside the Seattle corrective institution's roster is probably the best Hill could hope for in his immediate future.
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