Taysom Hill
August 23, 1990
Taysom Shawn Hill (born August 23, 1990) is an American football quarterback and utility player for the New Orleans Saints of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the BYU Cougars.
2009
Coming out of high school in 2009, Hill had multiple offers from programs in the West, including University of Arizona, Boise State University, Oregon State University, Washington State University, University of Utah, Stanford University, and Brigham Young University.
2009
Hill was born and raised in Pocatello, Idaho, where he lettered in football, basketball, and track at Highland High School and graduated in 2009. As a senior, he threw for 2,269 yards and 18 touchdowns, and rushed for 1,491 yards and 24 touchdowns, earning the All-Idaho Player of the Year, Gatorade High School Player of the Year, First Team All-State selection, and All-Region and All-Conference Player of the Year accolades. He holds the school single-season and career records for total offense.
2012
In his freshman season of 2012, Hill was number two on the quarterback depth chart. He was initially brought in for special packages to utilize his athleticism in short-yardage situations. In his very first play from scrimmage in college, he threw an 18-yard touchdown pass against Washington State in the home opener. Hill wound up playing in 6 games in 2012, starting and winning two starts midseason before suffering a season-ending knee injury in the closing seconds of a victory over Utah State.
2014
He is a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and served as a missionary for the church in Sydney, Australia, from 2009 to 2011. He married Emily Nixon in 2014 in the Salt Lake Temple in Salt Lake City, Utah. Hill's brother-in-law is former BYU and NFL linebacker David Nixon.
2014
Hill resumed starting in the 2013 season. After a tough 19–16 loss in the season opener at Virginia, he bounced back the following week against Texas, with 259 yards rushing and three touchdowns in a 40–21 win. In 2014, Hill sustained a fractured leg against Utah State on October 3, ending his season. BYU lost their first game of the season that night.
2015
As a result, Hill was granted a medical redshirt for 2015, making him eligible to return for one final season in 2016. On February 16, he announced that he would be returning to BYU in 2016 rather than pursuing options to play at another school as a graduate transfer. On August 23, Hill was named the starting quarterback over sophomore Tanner Mangum, who had started after Hill's injury in 2015. Hill changed his jersey number from 4 to the number 7 that his late older brother Dexter had worn.
2016
Late in 2016, Hill suffered a fourth season-ending injury. Against in-state rival Utah State on November 26, he went down with a hyper-extended elbow injury in the fourth quarter and was unable to finish the season.
September 02, 2017
Hill went undrafted in the 2017 NFL Draft, but signed with the Green Bay Packers as a free agent on May 5. He appeared in three preseason games with them, completing 14 of 20 passes, throwing for two touchdowns and rushing for another, before being waived on September 2, 2017.
March 2020
In March 2020, the Saints placed a first-round restricted free agent tender on Hill worth $4.641 million. On April 26, Hill re-signed with the Saints to a two-year deal worth $16.3 million, an extension to the first-round restricted free agent tender placed on Hill, to bring the total deal up to around $21 million.
November 20, 2020
On November 20, 2020 it was announced that Hill would make his first career start at quarterback for the Saints Week 11 matchup against the Atlanta Falcons due to Drew Brees’ injury. Hill threw 23 passes, completing 18 for 233 yards. He also ran for 51 yards and two touchdowns, helping the Saints beat the Falcons 24–9. In Week 12 against the Denver Broncos, he recorded another game with two rushing touchdowns in the 31–3 victory. In Week 13 against the Atlanta Falcons, he had 232 passing yards and his first two career passing touchdowns in the 21–16 victory.
