NFL

Former Denver Broncos running back Ronnie Hillman died Wednesday at the age of 31, his family announced in an Instagram post.

The family of former Broncos running back Ronnie Hillman announced in an Instagram post to Hillman’s account that the 31-year-old passed away Wednesday after battling a rare form of cancer. Hillman was a member of the Broncos’ Super Bowl 50 championship team. Terribly sad news. pic.twitter.com/e78BvwllXd

— Nick Kosmider (@NickKosmider) December 22, 2022

Hillman was diagnosed with Renal Medullary Carcinoma in August, a rare form of cancer.

The 2012 third-round draft pick spent four years with the Broncos, although he is best known for his breakout 2015 season when he led the team with 863 rushing yards and seven touchdowns. He helped the squad win Super Bowl 50 at the end of that season, which remains the franchise's most recent playoff game.

Hillman spent the following year with the Minnesota Vikings and San Diego Chargers but couldn't replicate his success and was out of the NFL by 2017.

In five NFL seasons, the running back totaled 1,976 rushing yards, 524 receiving yards and 13 touchdowns.

The Long Beach, California, native was also a standout for San Diego State, totaling 3,243 rushing yards and 36 touchdowns in just two seasons. His 1,711 rushing yards in 2011 ranked third in the country.

"Our deepest condolences go out to Ronnie's family," Aztecs coach Brady Hoke said in a statement, per Kirk Kenney of the San Diego Union-Tribune. "Although I only got to coach him one season (2010), I'll remember him as a great teammate and hard worker. Ronnie always came to practice with a smile on this face and his passion for the game was contagious. He'll always be an Aztec for Life."

The trash-talking, fierce competitor on the field is the Jalen Ramsey that Los Angeles Rams fans tune in to watch play every week—the one the "outside world" sees.

"I'm OK with however people perceive me, and people do get different versions of me too. That's all fine to me," Ramsey says.

The seasoned NFL veteran is notorious for trying to get into his opponents' heads—it's what other players say he's best at. Some of his most notable trash-talking moments (caught on camera) are his pregame banter with Davante Adams, the infamous fight with A.J. Green and his viral postgame interview in 2016 after facing Steve Smith Sr.

But the Jalen Ramsey off the field hopes he's someone people can think highly of. "Once people get to know me and they see different sides of me, then [any] misconception goes away pretty quickly," he says.

Ramsey spoke one-on-one recently with Bleacher Report to talk about his vodcast Straight Off the Press. In collaboration with UNINTERRUPTED, the defending Super Bowl champion has been airing his raw, unfiltered reaction postgame—win or lose.

Directly after home games, the Rams cornerback films in a suite at SoFi Stadium. A wide variety of guests—including his father, teammates and even rapper YG—have joined him there. After away games, Ramsey films immediately upon the team's return to Los Angeles in a specially outfitted van en route to the team facility.

Ramsey is drawing back the curtain and letting people in on who he is and how he really feels. In an episode with the rapper, singer and actor Tobe Nwigwe, Ramsey delves into family and being a father: "I don't really want my daughters to look at me as the football player. I want them to look at me as a great dad."

In another episode, Ramsey opened the show with a revealing monologue after one of the toughest plays of his career to swallow—a game-winning touchdown scored on him by Seattle's DK Metcalf in Week 13:

"I feel like lately I've been literally eating, sleeping, dreaming football, football, football, football, football, football. Just trying so hard to get s--t right, just right it for the whole team, as a leader on the team. ...

"I hate feeling this way, but you gotta keep going through the storm. Keep on pushing. Keep on fighting. Fight even harder. You just gotta go harder in any way that you can. So that's what I'mma do. Sucks though. I literally just can't stop looking at the spot in the end zone right now where DK caught that pass. ...

"Just the nature of my position, you can go a whole game where you hold a really good receiver … you can hold a guy like this to zero catches. ... But that moment, to me, overrules all the other moments in the game, by far. I hate that that happened that way. All I can do is keep going."

Ramsey took two hours after the Rams' loss to the Seahawks to process the game prior to filming the show.

"After a loss, I'm already emotionally a little bit drained and don't want to do it," he says, noting that he'll often go it alone in those situations. "Just even asking my teammates to do it when they're feeling the same way, it's tough."

Nevertheless, the show goes on: "I try to just be a man of my word … and give the fans that raw interaction that my family and friends get to see. … It's real therapeutic."

Straight Off the Press is a work in progress. Ramsey and his team with UNINTERRUPTED constantly come up with ideas and try things as they figure out what they want this show to be. Ramsey doesn't want it to become repetitive, so he looks for opportunities to be creative: "We're trying to evolve into what it's going to be … so we can lean into some other conversations."

Straight Off the Press has allowed Ramsey to continue to explore his interest in production and carve out a space within the media landscape—to control his own narrative.

Ramsey has worked on another project with UNINTERRUPTED: the first season of 17 Weeks, which featured various players during the "weekly grind" of the season. The podcast aired during the 2019 NFL season and followed his trade from the Jacksonville Jaguars to the Rams.

"[Reporters will] ask us a question and we'll give them the proper answer that we're supposed to give them, but I know our true emotions in the locker room," he explains about what he can bring to his own shows. "I know how we're really feeling, I know our interactions. Because I'm doing it. I'm in there with my guys. I'm feeling these emotions my damn self, so I think that's where the difference comes for me."

In step with UNINTERRUPTED's mission to show athletes beyond their on-field feats, Ramsey is looking to expand his profile.

"It is very important to have an identity outside of the job, and I kind of hate saying 'job' because I play football for a living. … But at the end of the day, I still don't want that to define me," Ramsey says. "Being more than an athlete is super important to me. Something that definitely hits home."

His goals for himself include his ultimate goal as a player: to be remembered as a good teammate. Certainly, the three-time All-Pro wants to wear a gold jacket someday, but he also wants his teammates to look back and appreciate him for always trying to put them in positions to succeed.

"Really what matters to me when my playing career is over is that my teammates would be like, 'Man, whatever happened with Jalen, how his career may have ended—good, bad, whatever—man, y'all, he was an amazing teammate. He was an amazing guy. He always tried to help us.' ...

"Whatever the case may be, I want people to look back and be like, 'Man, Jalen Ramsey was one of the best teammates ever.'"

The Baltimore Ravens are closely monitoring the health of star quarterback Lamar Jackson, and for good reason. Jackson, who is dealing with a knee injury, has missed Baltimore's last two games. The Ravens are trying to keep pace with the Cincinnati Bengals in the AFC North but have gone 1-1 without him, losing to the Cleveland Browns and squeaking by the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Jackson's injury could also heavily impact his future in Baltimore, and not for the most obvious of reasons.

First, let's dive into what's immediately ahead and what's at stake.

Baltimore (9-5) sits a game behind Cincinnati in the AFC North, but it holds the first head-to-head tiebreaker. If the Ravens can win out at home against the Atlanta Falcons and Pittsburgh and in Cincinnati in Week 18, they'll claim the AFC North crown and host a playoff game.

It's unknown whether Jackson will make his return in Week 16.

John Harbaugh declined to say whether Ravens QB Lamar Jackson will return this week after missing two games with a knee injury.

Harbaugh said he is going to "climb behind the barricade" of not divulging injury information because of competitive reasons.

— Jamison Hensley (@jamisonhensley) December 19, 2022

Could the Ravens get past Atlanta without Jackson? Maybe, but they fell flat with Tyler Huntley under center against Cleveland. Baltimore ran the ball well but couldn't pass when it needed to. Huntley finished just 17-of-30 for 138 yards with an interception.

Unlike the Browns, Atlanta has been respectable against the run, ranking 11th in yards per carry allowed (4.3).

The Ravens cannot afford a slip-up against Atlanta, or any team, if they hope to guarantee themselves a playoff bid. Baltimore cannot clinch a playoff spot in Week 16 with a win alone. Every loss the Ravens accumulate opens the door for another team to push them out of the postseason.

This is exactly how things unfolded in 2021 when Jackson missed the final four weeks with an ankle injury (he missed a fifth during the season with an illness). The two-time Pro Bowler was injured early in Week 14, and Baltimore fell from 8-4 to 8-9 and missed the playoffs.

Things could shape up for an eerily similar run if Jackson cannot return before season's end.

Regardless of how things unfold in 2022, missing extended time late in back-to-back seasons will likely be a factor when the quarterback and the Ravens negotiate his next contract in the offseason.

Jackson is slated to become a free agent in March. According to NFL Media's Ian Rapoport, he seeks a fully guaranteed contract like the one Deshaun Watson received from the rival Browns.

"Fully guaranteed money is believed to be at the heart of the issue," Rapoport wrote in September. "Jackson is seeking as close to $230 million as possible, choosing to play on the fifth-year option of his rookie contract until he gets his desired deal."

Watson didn't play in 2021 and missed the first 11 games of this season while serving a suspension for violation of the league's personal conduct policy after 25 women filed lawsuits accusing him of sexual assault or misconduct.

Watson and the Browns faced questions about his character and his ability to be an elite franchise quarterback after a lengthy layoff when he got his deal. The only question around Jackson—who was, by the way, the unanimous 2019 MVP—is his durability. And that has only become a concern over the past two years.

Though it's not as if Jackson plays recklessly, his dual-threat play style exposes him to more contact than a traditional pocket passer might face. Some contingent of the Ravens front office might view his injury history as a reason not to guarantee the entirety of his deal.

Franchise owner Steve Bisciotti has gone on record as not being a fan of fully guaranteed deals.

"To me, that's something that is groundbreaking, and it'll make negotiations harder with others," Bisciotti told reporters in March.

In reality, though, Jackson's late-season absences tilt the leverage in his favor.

Baltimore has spent the better part of five seasons crafting an offense to suit Jackson and his unique skill set. The Ravens have eschewed a true No. 1 receiver because Jackson can dissect defenses using star tight end Mark Andrews and a handful of complementary guys. They've built a committee backfield instead of finding an All-Pro ball-carrier because Jackson is a proven 1,000-yard rusher.

J.K. Dobbins and Gus Edwards are fine complementary backs, but neither has proved himself to be (or remained healthy enough to be) a true featured back.

Baltimore traded a Pro Bowl offensive tackle in Orlando Brown because with Jackson's ability to escape, the line doesn't have to be elite at every position.

The problem is that the team Baltimore has constructed doesn't work without Jackson—even if the Ravens want to pretend it can.

"I've got confidence in everybody," head coach John Harbaugh told reporters Monday when asked about the offense's struggles. "We have great coaches and great players at the highest level, battling every single day to get everything as good as it can be."

It won't be as good as it can be with anyone other than Jackson under center. Games without him have proved that. Huntley can escape the pocket, be a dual threat and run Baltimore's offense, but he doesn't see the field as clearly as Jackson.

Take this missed touchdown opportunity against Cleveland as an example:

Mark Andrews hasn't scored a touchdown since Week 6, but there have been opportunities. Snoop missed a shot over the top here in the red zone. pic.twitter.com/syBsUoxXhj

— Ryan Mink (@ryanmink) December 20, 2022

Over the past two weeks, Huntley has gone 25-of-42 for 226 yards and an interception. If the Steelers hadn't lost their starting quarterback, Kenny Pickett, to a concussion in Week 14, Huntley would probably be 0-2 this season. He went 1-3 as a starter in 2021.

It's not as if the Ravens will find a suitable replacement for this offense in free agency either. Impending free agents like Geno Smith, Mike White and Jimmy Garoppolo don't come close to mirroring Jackson's skill set.

Could Baltimore try its luck in the 2023 draft? Sure, a player like Bryce Young or Anthony Richardson might become a franchise quarterback, but it's a crapshoot. Why take such a huge risk at the game's most important position when a 25-year-old franchise quarterback is in the building?

The Ravens shouldn't take that risk, and Jackson knows it. This is why he can essentially tell the Ravens, "Give me the long-term contract I want or have fun trying to rebuild without me."

And the Ravens would have to rebuild a lot to be successful with a different quarterback. It wouldn't be cheap.

Consider the cost of signing a quality dual-threat back like impending free agent Kareem Hunt and acquiring a top-end receiver like, say, DK Metcalf. Hunt has a projected market value of $6.9 million annually. Metcalf just signed an extension worth $24 million annually. Now add in the cost of a quarterback like Smith, who has a projected market value of $36.1 million annually.

That's $67 million in annual salary just to start transitioning to an offense that can be high-level without Jackson.

Or the Ravens can pay Jackson $45 million-plus annually, guarantee his contract and continue to build their offense.

The alternative to paying Jackson what he wants or starting over is using the franchise tag and locking in the Louisville product on a year-to-year basis. That might be viewed as a prudent move, given Jackson's injuries, but it's not cap-friendly.

The 2022 tag value for quarterbacks was $29.7 million. That number will rise significantly in 2023—especially if Jackson is given the exclusive tag—and would carry a minimum 20 percent raise in 2024 if he is tagged a second time.

An exclusive franchise tag for Lamar Jackson in 2023 currently calculates to $45.4M (thanks in large part to Deshaun Watson's $55M cap hit).

A tag in 2024 would then be $54.4M.

2022: $23M
2023: $45.4M
2024: $54.4M
= $122.8M

Russell Wilson just locked in $124M over that span.

— Spotrac (@spotrac) September 6, 2022

Tagging Jackson for the next two years will likely cost Baltimore $100 million in guaranteed money. Giving Watson $230 million guaranteed for an extra three seasons doesn't seem as bad in comparison—especially with quarterback contracts consistently on the rise.

This is assuming Jackson won't refuse to play on the franchise tag, which he easily could. He can point to his injuries, as well as the torn ACL suffered by Arizona Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray, and decide that it's less of a risk to sit for a year.

Watson got paid after sitting out a season, which leaves Baltimore with little leverage.

What are the Ravens going to do? Tell Jackson they're content to be an also-ran in a division poised to be dominated by Joe Burrow and the Bengals if he doesn't play? Threaten to start over and forge a more traditional offense while hoping for the best?

What the Ravens cannot do is point to their on-field success without Jackson and tell him that they don't need him. That success hasn't come, and they do.

While injuries are unfortunate and Jackson would undoubtedly rather be playing, his recent time off will work in his favor next spring. If Baltimore hopes to have the sustained success it has enjoyed with a healthy Jackson—three playoff appearances in his first three seasons—it'll have to pay the man what he wants.