ExtremeRavens Posted Wednesday at 10:30 AM Posted Wednesday at 10:30 AM The Ravens were trailing by 7 points and down to their final desperate seconds. Arrowhead Stadium was in full throat. And the Kansas City Chiefs’ Chris Jones bore down not once but twice on Lamar Jackson, only the diminutive Justice Hill between the three-time All-Pro defensive tackle, the quarterback and game over. Over a year later and even amid the more recent challenging times of a 1-5 record that matches Baltimore’s worst start in its 30-year franchise history, the viral moment in which the 5-foot-10, 210-pound Hill successfully blocked the 6-6, 310-pound Jones still resonates. “I remember it like it was yesterday,” Hill says with a shy smile in the back corner of the Ravens’ Owings Mills locker room. “Everybody goes one way and it’s just me and Chris Jones the other way. “We’re down, we’ve driven down the field, we have an opportunity to go score, you just gotta get it done some way somehow. I’m probably just a fly in his face, but Lamar was able to get the ball off. It was a crazy moment. I knew [Jones] gotta be somewhat tired so it was like, just give him all you got and hold on.” If there is a moment over the past seven years that both typifies Hill’s place in the NFL and his ability to persist it is perhaps that one from Week 1 in 2024. On a roster chock full of superstars and big personalities, the 27-year-old son of deeply religious parents, Derrick and Tia, older brother of Cincinnati Bengals cornerback Dax and product of what the family calls a “good vibes” home in Tulsa, Oklahoma, has endured as much as he has in his understated way excelled. Hill, a fourth-round pick out of Oklahoma State who rushed for 3,539 yards and 30 touchdowns and caught 49 passes for 304 yards and another score over three college seasons, was entering his third year as a pro when coach John Harbaugh told him that he was about to get cut. Instead, he is the last of the Ravens’ 2019 eight-player draft class still in the building, along with being the rare running back to get a third contract with the same team after signing an extension last season. He also overcame a torn Achilles that wiped out his 2021 season — ironically it was teammate J.K. Dobbins’ torn ACL in that year’s preseason finale that had helped keep Hill on the roster. Along the way, he has watched other backs take on leading man duties, from Mark Ingram to Dobbins to Gus Edwards to Derrick Henry, yet it hasn’t soured his disposition and Hill, even during what has been a disappointing 2025 thus far, often has a smile on his face. “I would say that’s god-given,” Tia said. “He was always a happy kid, always smiling and having fun. “As a mother, being spiritually grounded was one of my goals, so in his own way he’s searched for that.” That doesn’t mean that there weren’t low points. The lowest of them came even before he tore his Achilles. His first two years in the league, he was stuck behind three-time Pro Bowl selection Ingram and an odd fit for then-offensive coordinator Greg Roman’s power run scheme. Hill had 58 carries for 225 yards and two touchdowns along with eight catches for 70 yards as a rookie, but his touches (12 carries, 60 yards; 5 catches, 20 yards) plummeted the next season. Then came the news that he would be cut, followed by a brief sigh of relief that washed away after the season-ending injury. “My first three years, yeah man, was definitely challenging,” he said. “It was like, dang, there was a whole bunch of questions for three years. Why you bring me here? Why you do this? So many questions. “Then the Achilles injury brings you back to you’re blessed to even be here, be in this position, blessed to put pads on every day. When I came back from that, I had a different approach and mindset.” Ravens running back Justice Hill slips past Chiefs linebacker Nick Bolton for a touchdown earlier this season. While not a superstar, Hill is a valuable piece to the Ravens' offense. (Charlie Riedel/AP) With newfound perspective that was aided he said by watching videos about Navy SEALS along with the birth of the first of his two children, Hill embraced the struggle and found joy in moments big and small off the field and on it. Of being home in a walking boot. Of playing special teams. Of pass protection. Of making the most of his scant opportunities when he got them. Eventually, the tide turned and he became an invaluable member of the roster. Since 2023, Hill is tied for third on the team in catches with 88. His 9.4 yards after the catch is also the most by a Ravens player with at least 50 receptions since 2023. This year, he has the fourth most receiving yards (144) on the Ravens and his 71-yard touchdown run against the Chiefs in Week 4 is Baltimore’s longest play from scrimmage thus far. That tenacity and versatility has earned high praise throughout the organization. General manager Eric DeCosta has called him one of the “unsung heroes” of the team. Harbaugh has referred to him as a “high-caliber” running back as well as a “difference maker.” Running backs coach Willie Taggart has dubbed him a “junkyard dog” for his versatility to do “everything” and noted that he played a key role in helping Henry integrate to the team last season. “He can pretty much do anything,” says teammate and linebacker Roquan Smith, who arrived in Baltimore in 2022. “I got a lot of respect for him, how he comes in every day. You never see the guy complain, he put his head down and go to work every day. When somebody’s like that, you can’t do anything but respect him.” There was a time, Hill’s father Derrick said, that his eldest son perhaps did feel undervalued early in his professional career. But through the tribulations, he found an “appreciation” for his role. Hill also believes the journey wouldn’t have been rewarding, and he wouldn’t have it any other way. “It’s gonna be muddy. It’s gonna be hard,” he said. “But if you get through those things, there’s gonna be some great things on the other side.” Have a news tip? Contact Brian Wacker at bwacker@baltsun.com, 410-332-6200 and x.com/brianwacker1. View the full article Quote
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.