Wife of former Dallas Cowboys player tragically passes away

On Monday, the Dallas Cowboys announced that Janet Hill, the wife of former running back Calvin Hill, had passed away. A cause of death was not announced at the time.

Calvin Hill played for the Dallas Cowboys from 1969 to 1974. Although he played for Washington and Cleveland afterwards, he and his wife called Dallas home and lived there for many years. After his playing career, Calvin Hill was hired as a consultant for the Dallas Cowboys in the player development department in the late 1990s. He was the first player drafted into the National Football League from an Ivy League school (Yale).

Janet Hill co-founded a consulting firm called Alexander and Associates in 1982, which she was then later named vice president of. She spent time as the Assistant to the Secretary of the Army. She also spent part of her career teaching middle school, high school and college mathematics. She was a trustee for Duke University as well as the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. She also served on the board of the NCAA Foundation, Wendy's International and the President's Council on Physical Fitness.

In 1997, the Dallas Cowboys asked Janet and Calvin to work for the team in helping change the culture amongst the players. The team was concerned about the player's behavior and decision-making abilities and brought in the highly respected couple to teach and guide the young players.

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Is former Cowboys player Calvin Hill related to former NBA player Grant Hill?

Calvin and Janet Hill are the parents of NBA great Grant Hill. He was raised as an only child, born in Dallas, Texas, and then raised in Washington, D.C., where his mother's consulting firm was based.

Although his father played professional football, Grant didn't play football as a young child. His father didn't want his son to be compared to him while he was playing, which eventually led Grant to play basketball. He was highly valued coming out of high school and chose Duke University to further pursue his academic and athletic career.

He graduated from Duke University with a degree in history as well as political science. Grant was then drafted by the Detroit Pistons with the third overall selection in the 1994 NBA Draft. He played with the Pistons until 2000, when he was traded to the Orlando Magic. He then spent time with the Phoenix Suns and Los Angeles Clippers before announcing his retirement from the NBA in 2013, marking a spectacular 19-year career. He was named to the NBA All-Star Team seven times throughout his career.

Like his father did with the Dallas Cowboys, Grant Hill was also named Rookie of the Year after his first professional season.