Esperanza’s Hill Draws From Experience

In 12 years as a tight end with the Detroit Lions and Los Angeles Rams, Dave Hill saw lots of hard hits, but none like the one his 7-year-old son Adam took in the backyard.

Dave had just finished bathing the family dogs, two Rottweilers. Suddenly, the 140-pound male Rottweiler took off and hit Adam head-first in the chest, knocking him across the yard.

“[The dog] knocked the wind out of him,” David said. “He was laying there in shock. Of course, we were in shock. It was probably the hardest hit I’ve seen in my life. I figured from then, he might be a football player.”

Adam is still taking hits as a junior receiver at Anaheim Esperanza High. He has caught 29 passes for 504 yards and six touchdowns in helping the Aztecs to a 6-0 start. They play Los Alamitos (5-0-1) Saturday at Placentia Valencia in a key Sunset League game.

Playing football is as much a part of life in the Hill household as watching television. Dave’s cousin, Gary Green, played for the Rams and Kansas City Chiefs. Brother Jim played for the Green Bay Packers and is a longtime sports reporter for KCBS. Dave’s oldest son, Aaron, is a receiver at Montana State. And his youngest son, Austin, 11, is already training with the Rottweilers at the family home in Yorba Linda.

“I’ve been around the game forever,” Adam said.

There are perks for having a father who played in the NFL, such as being able to hang out with some of his friends, former Rams Eric Dickerson and LeRoy Irvin.

And since his father is also an assistant coach at Esperanza, Adam is able to receive insights from a man who knows what it takes to reach the highest level.

If Adam ever gets mad at his father, he knows what to do. He simply brings up the sore subject of the Rams losing to the Washington Redskins in the 1983 and ’86 playoffs.

“He gets quiet,” Adam said.

Adam respects his father, not only because his nickname is “Big Daddy.” Dave is 6 feet 3 1/2, 340 pounds.

“Oh, man, the things he could do,” Adam said.

Dave offers lessons whenever the two are watching football on television, explaining pass routes and defensive schemes.

Adam is 6-1, 180 pounds and tough, like his father. He was forced to play quarterback last season at Esperanza after an injury sidelined Rick Taloa for the season. It wasn’t a pleasant time. Esperanza struggled to a 4-5-1 record.

Before this season, Adam told Taloa, “You better not get hurt because I don’t want to play quarterback.”

Adam has the size, strength and hands to be an excellent receiver. Improving his speed will be crucial to attracting attention from top colleges.

“He can be as good as he wants,” Esperanza Coach Gary Meek said.

Adam can thank the Rottweilers and his brother, Aaron, for preparing him for football.

There were lots of tackle football games in the backyard, with Aaron usually using Adam as a tackling dummy.

“When I was playing receiver, he’d play bump and run and demolish me,” Adam said.

And then there were the wrestling matches against dad.

“If he’d get one hand off you, he has that other hand and you can’t move,” Adam said.

A number of sons of former NFL players of the 1980s have started to reach the high school or college ranks. The sons of former NFL players Jackie Slater, Brad Budde and Clay Matthews are playing for Anaheim Servite, San Clemente and Agoura, respectively.

“It’s very interesting to see the kids of players I played with that are now in college or high school,” Dave said. “There are probably certain insights you can give them to the game that they can’t get anywhere else.”

And Dave still trusts his Rottweilers to prepare his sons for football.

Even Adam has no hard feelings about being run over by the family pets.

“It gives me good agility,” he said.

Eric Sondheimer can be reached at eric.sondheimer@latimes.com.