Good Read on Dalton Hilliard and Dalton James Gang

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By JAMES MORAN
Tiger Rag Associate Editor
The thoughts began racing through young Dalton Hilliard’s mind quicker than the elusive, diminutive back could burst through a closing hole.

The Tigers were preparing for the 1982 season opener when Hilliard, a true freshman straight out of Patterson High at the time, was abruptly summoned to LSU coach Jerry Stovall’s office without any clear explanation.

"I think I’m being punished,” Hilliard recalled at a meet and greet hosted by Tiger Rag president Jim Engster last Saturday morning. "I must’ve did something wrong. I didn’t go to class or something, and I’m kind of nervous with him calling me in. But he sits me down and says ‘Dalton, I’m going to start you at tailback.’ He told me I’d probably be the first freshman to start. He told me not to get nervous and to do the things I’d done in training camp.

"Then he asks me ‘what do you need to get comfortable? What do you need to feel good preparing this week?’”

Hilliard was completely taken aback. He’d entered fall camp a distant eighth on the depth chart at tailback. He wasn’t even the highest-touted of LSU’s freshmen backs. That honor belonged to classmate Gary James, the top-rated back to come out of high school in the country that year.

At that moment Hilliard probably could have asked for the world and gotten it. There was only one thing the humble rusher truly wanted.

"I said ‘Coach, I’d really like to wear the No. 21,” said Hilliard, who’d worn the number commemorating his birthday for as long as he’d played the game. "Timmy Bird was gracious enough to wear that number and Coach Stovall was excited. That was his number in high school. So it was an easy draw for me to get No. 21 at LSU.”

And oh, did he ever wear it well.

Hilliard dashed for a school-record 4,050 yards during his four seasons as the Tigers’ starting tailback. It’s been three decades since he last dawned the purple and gold, but Kevin Faulk remains the only LSU back to surpass Hilliard’s mark. He’s also the sixth-leading rusher in the illustrious history of the SEC, one spot ahead of Charles Alexander.

Could he have gone for more if not for the time share with James? That’s not something Hilliard has ever concerned himself with.

"I was fine with how the system worked,” Hilliard said. "We had a lot of guys that rotated at every position. Gary and I playing together was part of what had to be done. And we got along extremely well. There was no animosity or no jealousy.”

Just lots and lots of yards. For four years the Dalton James Gang ran wild in Baton Rouge, capping the run with a 9-2-1 season under Bill Arnsparger in 1985. His eligibility exhausted, Hilliard entered the 1986 NFL Draft.

A self-proclaimed "simple man from Louisiana,” Hilliard said he wasn’t much for change or relocation. His dream scenario came true when the home-town New Orleans Saints drafted the local star in the second round. All he did in an eight-year career there was become a Pro Bowler, power the first winning season in the franchise’s 21-year history and be enshrined in the club’s Hall of Fame.

But like most work horse backs, his time in the NFL— "not for long,” as he calls it — came and went before he truly realized it. While Hilliard considers himself lucky to have never sustained a serious injury, the cumulative effort of nagging bumps and bruises zapped some of his explosiveness in his later years.

Hilliard isn’t bitter about how his time playing football came to an end, but he freely admits residual effects of the game still affect him to this day. Now 51, Hilliard deals with frequent physical pain in his back and neck as well as moderate memory loss — he has to be reminded of some of his own greatest exploits. He said he’ll eventually need both double hip and double knee replacement surgery.

"It’s part of the game and part of football,” Hilliard said. "Your body is going to deteriorate. That’s part of the game. Some guys have some really serious injuries and issues that need a lot of help and support now. That’s part of the game and part of the business for them now.”

It was all part of the business of football, but for Hilliard, the chance to play his entire career (JV through the NFL) in his home state made it all the more personal.

"I’m home,” Hilliard said, eliciting a prolonged cheer from the few dozen gathered in the Andonie Sports Museum hours before LSU took on Florida. "That was a blessing and I’m really thankful for it.”

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