Ronnie Hillman
Age: 33
Ronnie Keith Ryan Hillman (born September 14, 1991) is an American football running back for the Denver Broncos of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the San Diego State Aztecs. He was drafted by the Broncos in the third round of the 2012 NFL Draft.
Early years
Hillman is from Long Beach, California. He has four brothers and one sister. He attended La Habra High School where he lettered in football, basketball, and track and field. As a senior at running back, he accounted for better than 2,000 all-purpose yards and garnered attention from Fresno State, San Diego State, Colorado State and Wyoming. Hillman was also a sprinter on the track & field team, where he ran the 100 and the 4x100 with a personal record of 10.7 seconds in the 100-meter dash.
College career
Hillman sat out the 2009 season while SDSU sorted out administrative issues involving his admission. This redshirt year did not count towards Hillman's eligibility.
2010 season
As a freshman for the 2010 San Diego State Aztecs football team, Hillman gained 1,532 yards and scored 17 rushing touchdowns. On September 18, 2010, he gained 228 rushing yards against Missouri in his third college football game.
2011 season
As a sophomore, Hillman rushed for 1,478 yards and 15 touchdowns during the 2011 regular season. He ranked fourth among all players in the NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision with an average of 5.5 rushing yards per game. He ranked sixth in total rushing yards. He gained over 100 rushing yards in eight of San Diego State's 12 games in 2011.
On September 17, 2011 the San Diego State Aztecs faced the 2-0 undefeated Washington State Cougars at Qualcomm Stadium. Hillman scored on four touchdown runs, leading the Aztecs to a 42-24 victory and their first 3-0 Start in 30 Years.
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Fourth quarter 1 yard touchdown run
On October 29, 2011, he gained a season-high 224 yards against Wyoming for 2 touchdowns, including a 99 yard touchdown run.
Professional career
2012 NFL Combine
Ht | Wt | 40-yd dash | 10-yd split | 20-yd split | 20-ss | 3-cone | Vert | Broad | BP | ||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
5 ft 9 in | 200 lb | 4.45 s | 1.54 s | 2.54 s | 37 in | 17 reps | |||||||||||||
On January 4, 2012, Ronnie Hillman announced that he hired an agent and would be entering the 2012 NFL Draft. Hillman was drafted with the 67th pick in the 3rd round by the Denver Broncos. In week 11 vs the Carolina Panthers, Hillman scored his first career touchdown on a 5 yard run.
2013 season
Hillman earned the starting job in the season opener against the Baltimore Ravens where he had 4 carries for 15 yards and 2 catches for 27 yards. On September 23, he had a rushing touchdown against the Oakland Raiders. On October 20 against the Indianapolis Colts, the Broncos were down by 6 on the Colts' 2 yard line and needed the touchdown to take the lead. Hillman took the carry and fumbled as Indy recovered. The Broncos reached Super Bowl XLVIII, but lost 43-8 to the Seattle Seahawks. Hillman was inactive for the Super Bowl.
2014 season
After teammate Montee Ball went down with a groin injury, Hillman was announced the starter. In his first career start, Hillman had 100 yards rushing in 31-17 win the New York Jets. He would have 74 yards, 2 touchdowns (from 37 yards and 1 yard out) in 42-17 rout over the San Francisco 49ers.
2015 season
Hillman had the most productive season of his career in 2015, rushing for 863 yards and 7 touchdowns on the year. In week 4 against the Minnesota Vikings, Hillman ran for a 72 yard touchdown, the longest run of the 2015 NFL season at that point. The Broncos finished the season 12-4 and earned the AFC's #1 seed. The Broncos beat the Steelers and Patriots to advance to Super Bowl 50 where they would defeat the Carolina Panthers 24-10.
2016 season
On April 18, 2016, Hillman re-signed with the Broncos on a one-year, $2 million contract.