Another off-field problem has found Ravens safety Will Hill.
A warrant for the 24-year-old’s arrest has been issued in the state of New Jersey due to an alleged failure to pay more than $16,000 in child support, according to The Sun. However, the warrant was reportedly issued last March and Hill is not being actively pursued by police.
This is the latest chapter in a number of off-field missteps for Hill, who started eight games at safety in his first season with the Ravens after serving a six-game suspension for violating the league’s substance-abuse policy. It was Hill’s third suspension in three years in the NFL, which prompted the New York Giants to release him early last summer.
The University of Florida product was arrested in New Jersey in December 2013 for failing to pay child support.
In a season full of injuries and inconsistent play in the secondary, the Ravens found a bright spot in Hill, who emerged as the only clear-cut starter in a group of safeties that included 2013 first-round pick Matt Elam, Darian Stewart, Jeromy Miles, and rookie third-rounder Terrence Brooks. Hill collected 42 tackles, four pass breakups, and an interception returned for a touchdown in a late November win over New Orleans.
“He has a lot of talent, and it’s something that we always knew,” head coach John Harbaugh said at the end of the season. “He also has a great love for the game. He learned our defense throughout the course of the season, which it’s not easy to do that. We have a tough defense. We do a lot of good stuff back there. But he was running the show pretty well back there toward the end of the year. Having the offseason, having the [organized team activities], and the minicamp and the training camp is only going to really help him tremendously as far as being a really good safety for us.”
With No. 1 cornerback Jimmy Smith returning from a Lisfranc injury and veteran cornerback Lardarius Webb struggling at times in 2014 and carrying a $12 million figure, Hill might have been the Ravens’ surest bet in the secondary going into the offseason if you discount his off-field history.
Baltimore is expected to retain the restricted free agent, but Harbaugh said he issued the challenge for Hill to stay out of trouble at the end of the season. His current legal situation in New Jersey wouldn’t appear to be a healthy reflection of him getting the message after the Ravens gave him a second chance last summer.
“We put it on his plate a little bit. We’re challenging him for the next three or four months,” Harbaugh said. “‘Are you going to come back a better player than you were when you left here in January, and is that slate going to be clean?’ We fully expect it to be. He just had a baby. He’s doing great with his family, and we fully expect him to do a great job with that, and we’re going to try to help him anyway we can with that.”
