By TOMMY REZAC
St. Joseph Post
St. Joseph native and legendary running back Michael Hill is used to this routine by now.
He’s being enshrined into the Missouri Western Athletics Hall of Fame this weekend as a member of the 2023 class.
The 2012 Griffon football team, of which Hill was a member, was enshrined into the Missouri Western Hall of Fame last year.
And Hill himself is a member of the 2022 St. Joseph Area Sports Hall of Fame Class.
Coming back for a third induction this weekend, he says, is a great honor.
"It's an honor to be a part of any of 'em, you know?" Hill said humbly. "One alone. So, I mean, to be able to be involved with multiple (Halls of Fame), I'll take it for sure."
Hill, a St. Joseph Central alum, is Missouri Western’s all-time leading rusher, piling up 4,969 career rushing yards and 35 rushing touchdowns.
The 2012 season was Hill's breakout year, where he rushed for over 2,100 yards, earned consensus All-American status and was named MIAA Player of the Year.
Hill says the community support around that 2012 MIAA championship team that went 12-2 was unmatched.
"Seeing the crowd out there and having the community support was awesome," he said. "People rallied when we had games. Social media was strong, so you could see people involved on social media. Talking about the Griffs. That's what you want as a player."
Missouri Western’s current head coach, Tyler Fenwick, was the Griffons’ offensive coordinator during Hill’s time on campus from 2008-2012.
Fenwick calls Hill one of his all-time favorite players to have ever coached.
"Not just because he was such a talented player, but such a good leader in the right way," Fenwick described. "A good guy. He and I have stayed in touch ever since I left (after the 2012 season) and he graduated. He's become a really good friend. He was actually my realtor when I moved back here."
Hill says Fenwick is the same person and coach today that he was during that great run in 2012.
Level-headed. Kind. Honest.
"As a player, he's everything you want in a coach," Hill said of Fenwick. "Just being composed and leading by example. We may have been down or messing up in practice, and he's calm as can be. He's like, 'Hey, let's get going, let's fix this, here's how we're going to do it.'"
"He recognizes the problem, he tells us or shows us how he's going to fix it. He's just calm with it when there's disaster or when we need to persevere through adversity."
As for the 2012 team and its successes, Hill credits the entire coaching staff for making that historic season, and this eventual Hall of Fame induction, possible.
"That's just a hats off to the coaching staff to work with us, keep our confidence up and groom us to become the men we turned out to be, players and students we turned out to be."
"The players, the coaches, the administration. I have so many stories I can jump back on."
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