Taysom Hill

Early years

Born and raised in Pocatello, Idaho, Hill lettered in football, basketball, and track at Highland High School and graduated in 2009. As a senior, he threw for 2,269 yards and 18 touchdowns, and rushed for 1,491 yards and 24 touchdowns, earning the All-Idaho Player of the Year, Gatorade High School Player of the Year, First Team All-State selection and earned All-Region and All-Conference Player of the Year accolades. He holds the school single-season and career records for total offense.

In track, Hill competed in the 200 meters and long jump. As a sophomore at the 2007 5A District IV/V/VI Regional Meet, he recorded a personal-best time of 22.5 seconds in the 200 m, placing third, and ran the fourth leg on the 4 × 200 m relay squad, helping the Rams to 1:31.41 and a first-place finish. As a senior, he won the long jump event at the 2009 5A Regional Meet, with a mark of 6.85 m (22 ft 5 ¹¹⁄₁₆ in).

College career

Coming out of high school in 2009, Hill had multiple offers from programs in the West, including University of Arizona, Boise State University, Oregon State University, Washington State University, University of Utah, Stanford University, and Brigham Young University.

Heavily recruited by head coach Jim Harbaugh, Hill had originally committed to Stanford; but during his LDS church mission, he was informed that Stanford did not allow incoming freshmen to join the team until June. As a result, he decided to go to Brigham Young instead.

In his freshman season of 2012, Hill was the #2 QB on the depth chart. He was initially brought in for special packages to utilize his athleticism in short-yardage situations. His very first play from scrimmage in college was an 18-yard touchdown pass against Washington State in the home opener. Hill wound up playing in 6 games for the 2012 campaign, having started 2 (winning in both starts), before suffering a season-ending knee injury in the closing seconds of a victory over Utah State.

Hill entered the 2013 season as BYU's starting quarterback. After a tough 19–16 loss in week one at Virginia, he bounced back the following week against Texas, with 259 yards rushing and three touchdowns in a 40–21 win. In 2014, Hill sustained a fractured leg against Utah State on October 3, ending his season. BYU lost their first game of the season that night.

Hill suffered a lisfranc fracture during the 2015 season opener against Nebraska on September 5. After the game, BYU head coach Bronco Mendenhall announced that the injury would cost Hill the rest of the season. On February 16, Hill announced that he would be returning to BYU in 2016, instead of pursuing options to play at another school as a graduate transfer. He was granted a medical redshirt for 2015 and was eligible for one final season in 2016. On August 23, Hill was named the starting quarterback over sophomore Tanner Mangum, who had started after Hill's injury in the preceding season. Hill changed his jersey number from 4 to 7 to honor his older brother Dexter, who died earlier in 2016 and who wore No. 7 as a player.

Late in 2016, Hill suffered a fourth season-ending injury. Against in-state rival Utah State on November 26, he went down with a hyper-extended elbow injury in the fourth quarter, and was unable to finish the season.

Green Bay Packers

After not being drafted in the 2017 NFL Draft, Hill signed with the Green Bay Packers as a free agent on May 5, 2017. He was waived on September 2, 2017.

New Orleans Saints

On September 3, 2017, Hill was claimed off waivers by the New Orleans Saints.

Personal life

Hill is the youngest of four children of Doug and Natalie Hill. He was named after Taysom Rotary Park located in his hometown of Pocatello, Idaho.

Hill is a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and served as a Mormon missionary in Sydney, Australia from 2009 to 2011; he married Emily Nixon in 2014 in the Salt Lake Temple. Hill's brother in law is former BYU & NFL Linebacker David Nixon.