By Karen Guregian
Boston Herald General Sports Reporter and Columnist
Wednesday, May 30, 2007 - Updated: 02:35 AM EST
FOXBORO - The image is haunting. It won’t leave him. Jarvis Green can’t shake it.
It keeps flashing in his head. He keeps seeing Marquise Hill in the water, swept away by the current at Lake Pontchartrain, moments after helping his friend to safety.
He can’t bear to think what must have been going through Hill’s mind in those precious remaining hours of his life, as he drifted away. The image keeps playing over and over in his mind, and Green is deeply anguished and tormented by it.
He’s trying to make sense of it all. Only there’s little sense to be made save for Hill’s heroic last act, and what could have been avoided had life jackets come into play.
“All I’ve been thinking about is what was running through his mind at that time,” Green said yesterday, the tears flowing freely, gently rolling down his cheek as he talked about the death of his Patriots teammate, the wide-eyed defensive end he mentored at LSU. “I can’t even grasp what that was like. His first thought was to save the girl, help her first, then he floated away. He has a 2-year-old son. This really hurts. It’s so depressing.”
Hill, said to be a terrific swimmer, drowned after the Jet Ski he was riding with his female friend capsized. Neither were wearing a life jacket.
Green, a Louisiana native, has been on the same lake many times with a Jet Ski. He doesn’t consider Lake Pontchartrain dangerous, and can understand why Hill wouldn’t have worn a life jacket. His teammate’s death, however, should serve as an eye-opener and warning. Others should learn from the accident.
“He was 24 years old. A freak accident like that. I don’t think anybody’s ready for that,” Green said. “But I think there’s a lesson in there for everyone. Like the guys who don’t wear helmets when they ride motorcycles. It’s the same thing. Think before you make decisions. I just wish he had that life jacket on. We all make crazy decisions sometimes.”
With that last line, Green put his hands over his face, trying to bury the emotion. But he couldn’t stop. The tears kept pouring out.
From the moment his cell phone rang around 9 p.m. Sunday with word of Hill’s possible drowning, Green has been trying to stay strong and help out in any way possible. Hill was like his baby brother.
“I’ve known him since he was in the 10th grade. We became friends. I was a sophomore at LSU. I hung out with him. I took him here and there. When he got to LSU, I was his mentor,” Green said, now composed. “Coach (Nick) Saban said, ‘Watch this guy.’ And he was great. He was a big recruit coming out of high school. He was a cool guy to be around. But when he got to LSU, I was always on him. I said, ‘Keep working hard, and you’ll get your chance.’ ”
At first, Green thought the late-night call from back home was a cruel joke. His cousin said his brother-in-law was out fishing, and described the scene of helicopters and Coast Guard boats and police cars, all out in search of Hill.
When Green realized the validity of the story, he called as many former LSU and Patriots teammates as he could.
“He’s a guy who made everyone laugh. He was a guy who was fun to be around,” Green said of the top defender on LSU’s 2003 national championship team. “He told jokes all the time. He always had a funny story. He kept smiles on people’s faces.”
Hill kept people smiling, even though through three seasons with the Patriots, the 6-foot-6, 300-pounder couldn’t crack the starting lineup despite the promise of being a 2004 second-round pick.
Green, four years his senior, kept rooting for Hill, whether it meant playing for the Patriots, or another team.
“I wanted him to get a chance one day. It was tough here, but I thought he’d get a chance to go somewhere and make a name for himself, go start for somebody,” Green said. “From his rookie year to now, he matured a lot. I know he wanted to be on the football field more. But him just growing as an adult, he was really getting there. He was a father, he was a good dad.”
Green postponed a wine tasting gala, put on by his foundation. He’s going to hold it down the road, and now, it will have an added cause. Green plans on establishing a fund for Hill’s son, Ma’shy.
The Pats defensive end also plans on speaking at Hill’s funeral.
“I probably will say something. I have a lot to say,” Green said. “I want to talk about him. I want people to remember him for the good he’s done, for all the help he’s given victims of Hurricane Katrina.”
If it’s possible, Green believes Hill’s death, which was officially ruled an accidental drowning yesterday, will solidify the Pats even more.
“I would think so,” he said. “The guys in the locker room, the stuff we go through every day with training camp, and the long seasons, a lot of people don’t understand what we do as athletes. I would think it’s going to make us closer. We have a bond in that locker room that’s different than other teams. Trusting each other and playing for each other. We’re going to miss Marquise. He was a part of us for three years. Now you see his name flashing across the TV screen. I still can’t believe it.”
