Calvin Hill Calvin G . Hill ( born January 2 , 1947 ) is a retired American football running back who had a 12 - year NFL career from 1969 to 1981 . He played for the Dallas Cowboys , Washington Redskins and Cleveland Browns . In 1975 he played for The Hawaiians of the World Football League . Hill was named to the Pro Bowl team four times ( 1969 , 1972 , 1973 and 1974 ) . In 1972 he became the first Cowboy running back to have a 1 , 000 - yard rushing season ( with 1 , 036 yards rushing ) ; he repeated the feat in the following season with 1 , 142 yards rushing . Early years . Prior to attending ninth grade , Hill was awarded a scholarship to attend the Riverdale Country School in The Bronx , New York . At Riverdale he was an accomplished athlete in football , basketball , baseball , and track and field , often leading teams that defeated athletic arch - rival Horace Mann School and other Ivy Preparatory School League opponents in the metropolitan New York City - area . Hill was introduced to organized play in football at Riverdale . He was named the starting quarterback as a sophomore , the 1963 season , running the T formation in a program that was undefeated for eight seasons , 1958 through 1965 , lead by coach Frank Bertino , who retired ranked second all time for victories , 247 - 47 - 6 record , among New York state high school football coaches . Hill quarterbacked the team during the 1963 , 1964 and 1965 seasons . Hill , a highly touted high school football talent , decided to attend Yale and try to become the first black quarterback in school history after visiting the campus . He acknowledged a desire to play in a stadium with a large seating capacity , and was impressed by the large crowd , over 70 , 000 , watching Yale play Dartmouth at the Yale Bowl during the visit . He was an honors student at the secondary school . College career . The second day of practices at Yale , the coaching staff shifted him to linebacker on the freshman team and gave the quarterback job to Brian Dowling . After four days at linebacker he was moved to halfback , where he remained for the rest of his football career . Along with Dowling , he led the 1968 Yale team to an undefeated season , although the last game of the season resulted a dramatic 29 - 29 tie at Harvard . During his 3 years as a starter , the team posted records of 4 - 5 , 8 - 1 and 8 - 0 - 1 . In addition , Hill played some tight end and linebacker . He was an outstanding college athlete , and also was a sprinter and jumper for the track team . He still holds the school record for the outdoor triple jump at Yale . He was both the 1967 and 1968 long jump and triple jump Ivy League Heptagonal Outdoor Track & Field Champion . Hill graduated from Yale in 1969 , finishing with 1 , 512 rushing yards , 858 receiving yards and 298 passing yards . During his time there he obtained a degree in history , was a member of Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternity ( Phi chapter ) , where one of his fraternity brothers was President George W . Bush . He also was a member of the secret society , St . Elmo , which Bush ' s Attorney General , John Ashcroft , had joined five years earlier . Professional career . Dallas Cowboys . Hill was drafted in the first round of the 1969 NFL Draft by the Dallas Cowboys , becoming the first player from an Ivy League school to have this distinction . At the time this selection was widely questioned , because teams did not think they could find professional players at higher education colleges . The Cowboys drafted him as an athlete , so he spent his first few days in training camp as a linebacker and tight end . Hill got his chance at playing halfback in the second exhibition game , because the team was experiencing problems at running back during that training camp . Don Perkins , the fourth leading rusher in NFL history had just formally announced his retirement , Dan Reeves the starter at halfback was struggling after having off - season knee surgery and his backup Craig Baynham had bruised ribs . He never relinquished his starting job and when the regular season started , even though he was a rookie , he became a dominant player in the league . Through the first nine games of the season , he was the best running back in the NFL with 807 rushing yards . However , he hurt his toe while rushing for a team record 150 yards in a 41 - 28 victory over the Washington Redskins in the ninth game of the season . The team didn ' t know the extent of the injury , so he missed the next 2 games . When it was later revealed that it was broken , Hill played the last 2 games with a broken toe that required an injection before every practice and game . He finished his first season with 942 rushing yards with a 4 . 6 yard average and 8 touchdowns . he was also named NFL rookie of the year and earned Pro Bowl honors . The Cowboys drafted Duane Thomas in the first round of the 1970 NFL Draft , because the team was not confident that Hill had recovered during the off season . He also had complications from an infected blister in the same foot that kept him in the hospital for more than a month . Nine games into the 1970 season , he suffered a back injury and didn ' t play much the rest of the year , finishing with 577 rushing yards while averaging 3 . 8 yards per carry . In 1971 against the New York Giants , he suffered a torn anterior cruciate ligament , that was initially diagnosed as a sprained knee . He missed six games and tried to play again in the NFC Championship game , but hurt his knee again scoring a touchdown . In 1972 after the Cowboys traded Duane Thomas to the San Diego Chargers , he became the first running back in franchise history to surpass the 1 , 000 yard mark and proved he could still run the football . He finished with 1 , 045 yards and a 4 . 2 yard average and 6 touchdowns . He followed that up , breaking his own team record with 1 , 142 yards and six touchdowns during the 1973 season . Hill played in Dallas for 6 seasons helping the Cowboys win 1 Super Bowl and 2 NFC Championship game s . He had some superb years with the team , making four Pro Bowl s ( 1969 , 1972 , 1973 , 1974 ) in his six seasons and two All - Pro seasons ( 1969 , 1973 ) . World Football League . In 1975 , Hill signed with the Hawaiians in the World Football League ( WFL ) . He played in three games , carrying the ball 49 times for 218 yards and no touchdowns , before suffering a torn medial collateral ligament in his right knee . When the league closed , he returned to the NFL . Washington Redskins . In 1976 , he signed as a free agent with the Washington Redskins , but he could not recapture his previous playing level . In two seasons as a backup running back , he rushed for 558 yards and caught 25 passes , before being traded to the Cleveland Browns . Cleveland Browns . He played four seasons with the Browns , playing mostly as a third - down running back , before retiring at the end of the 1981 season . Hill played in the NFL for 12 seasons and amassed 6083 rushing yards and 42 touchdowns . He also had 2 , 861 receiving yards with 23 touchdowns . Personal life . His wife , Janet Hill , is a graduate of Wellesley College , where she shared a suite with Hillary Rodham Clinton . They are the parents of retired NBA player Grant Hill . Hill was the 1969 NFL Rookie of the Year . Twenty six years later , his son Grant would win the NBA Rookie of the Year award which he shared with Jason Kidd . Hill currently sits on the boards of several organizations , works as a corporate motivational speaker , and works for the Dallas Cowboys organization as a consultant who specializes in working with troubled players . Additionally , Mr . Hill is a consultant to the Cleveland Browns Football Club and Alexander & Associates , Inc . , a Washington , D . C . corporate consulting firm . As a consultant with the Cleveland Browns , he helped form a group of Cleveland Browns ' players to control and eliminate drug and alcohol - related problems . Mr . Hill has written several articles on sports and academia for national publications , makes appearances at university campuses and business firms , throughout the United States . He addresses several topics including the problem of drugs and alcohol and the work needed in this area , and the important relationship of sports and academia . Calvin Hill Day Care Center in New Haven is named after him , in honor of Hill ' s work for children .