Georgia Tech put on the full pads for the first time in the preseason Monday. For A-back Deon Hill, it was the first time in full pads since December after missing the spring practice with surgery to treat his Crohn’s disease condition.
“I was ready for it,” Hill said. “I think I overprepped myself and kind of made a few mistakes. I’ve just got to get back in the groove of everything, calm down, settle down.”
Hill, a senior, was diagnosed with the disease – a chronic inflammatory condition of the gastrointestinal tract – last fall and missed three games. When doctors reduced medication, the condition repeatedly flared up, leading to the decision to undergo surgery in March. In Hill’s words, “we had to take the diseased part out and attach good intestine to good intestine and take the bad out.”
Hill missed spring practice but has been cleared and said Monday that he felt great. He offered his thanks to doctors at Piedmont Hospital and Jay Shoop, Tech’s sports medicine director.
“I can’t thank those guys enough,” Hill said.
Hill in the mix with several A-backs for a starting spot. Hill started three games last season, two after the diagnosis. Teammates Tony Zenon, Broderick Snoddy, Charles Perkins, Dennis Andrews and Synjyn Days have been working with the first-string offense ahead of him, he said, but “they’ve got to hear me coming.”
He has overcome more challenging obstacles than depth charts.
“Now, I’m 100 percent,” Hill said. “I feel completely normal right now and just ready to play.”
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