ALL SMILES: WR Destyn Hill excited to finally be a part of Florida State football

Florida State fans weren’t sure they would ever see Destyn Hill in a Seminole uniform.

Maybe the FSU coaches weren’t either. After two years, who could blame them?

But Hill, who was the highest-rated recruit in Florida State’s Class of 2021, is now in Tallahassee. He is an actual Florida State football player. And he says his belief never wavered.

“I never really worried about it,” Hill said on Wednesday when he met with the media for the first time since arriving. “I was working out, staying close to my family, staying close to the coaches at Florida State, keeping basic communication.”

Hill didn’t disclose why he wasn’t able to enroll for two years after starring as a wide receiver at Edna Karr High School in New Orleans.

Other than to say, “it was a family thing, that’s how I choose to keep it.”

He did laugh when asked how, in this day and age, he was able to basically stay completely silent – not a peep – for two full years as fans wondered if and when he’d ever show up. Which only added to the mystery surrounding his circumstances and his future.

“The generation is always on social media,” Hill said. “When I was with my family I just chose to stay off social media and focus on my family. That’s really it. I just focused on my family, stayed close to my family.”

So, though while he didn’t go into specific details about his two-year delay, Hill was willing to talk about how he stayed committed to Florida State. And more importantly how he stayed committed to becoming a college football player one day.

He worked out with his high school coaches, he worked out by himself, he worked out running routes and in the gym. He stayed in as good a shape as possible, so when the time did come, he’d be ready. Not just to be on the team, but to actually contribute.

“I never checked out,” Hill said. “I was getting through workouts. I’m feeling my best, feeling healthy, feeling in shape for the most part. Everything has been moving smoothly so far.”

Hill actually said he had surprised himself a bit with how well he had adjusted to summer workouts at Florida State. They’re hard, of course, but they haven’t been overwhelming.

Of course, after all he’s been through, not much probably feels overwhelming to the former Louisiana prep star.

There were probably many nights, long nights, where he doubted if this day would ever come. If he would ever get to be a college football player, if he’d ever have a chance to continue his career.

But he made it. He’s here. In Tallahassee. After an arduous, mysterious, two-year-long journey, one that made most people who follow Florida State football assume he would never make it to campus, he’s actually here.

And when he was talking on Wednesday about that exact moment when it truly dawned on him that he was a Florida State football player, that he had truly made it, he couldn’t help but smile. And it was a big, big smile.

“It’s just an amazing feeling,” Hill said. “It’s a feeling like no other. … It’s more than I can explain. It’s just an unreal feeling that I’m at Florida State University.”

Talk about this story with other die-hard Florida State football fans on the Tribal Council.

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