COLLEGE PARK, Md. — Growing up in the 1960s, Darryl Hill just wanted to play football. He never thought about breaking the color barrier in high school, but he did. He would go on to change football across the region.
"I had gone to Gonzaga. I was the first and only Black player on the team at that time," Hill said of his high school playing days.
He broke the color barrier again at the Naval Academy. In fact, he was the first African-American to play football for any military academy. He played with Dallas Cowboys legendary quarterback Roger Staubach.
"I was a receiver, Roger was the passer. We're still good friends to this day, even though he went to Dallas," Hill said with a laugh.
Hill left Navy after one season, but in 1963 — for the third time — Hill once again was the first. Maryland Terrapins assistant coach Lee Corso recruited him to play wide receiver.
"Corso showed up and he says 'Look, I want you to come to College Park and visit campus.' I said 'Why, Coach? You forget which conference you were playing in?' He says that's just the point. The Board of Trustees for Maryland has decided that this segregated approach the ACC has is not tenable."
Hill suited up and became the first Black player not just for the Terps, but the Atlantic Coast Conference and in the entire southern region. While he said Maryland welcomed him, the southern schools in the ACC did not.
"Frank Howard, who was the football coach for Clemson at the time, he said if he comes down here, he won't come out of here alive. He said that on national television," Hill said.
He said some fans verbally abused him and threatened him constantly.
"They called my dorm and said if you go out on that field today, we'll be up in the dormitory with a high-powered rifle," Hill said of one threat.
One particular feature of Maryland's stadium made Hill especially nervous.
"Every time Maryland scored, they'd shoot this cannon off. Real loud. I scored a touchdown in the corner of the end zone, cannon went off — I thought they shot me!"
Hill never quit. In spite of what happened off the field, Hill excelled on it. He set receiving records for the team that stood for decades.
He also helped change the game. By his senior season, Maryland had recruited more Black athletes. Including basketball player Billy Jones.
As he stands on Maryland's campus in front of the Jones-Hill House that bears his name, he realizes now that what he endured during the '60s was worth it.
"I'd do it again in a heartbeat," Hill said. "Definitely. Somebody had to do it."
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