This Hill stands tall

<p>MINNEAPOLIS — Shaun Hill does not mind blending into the background.</p><p>In fact, he is accustomed to it.</p><p>The first time he ran onto the field to participate in an NFL game, he was hardly noticed. Hill was in his fourth year with the Minnesota Vikings at the end of the 2005 season when he made his debut.</p><p>“It was the last game of the year. We played Chicago at home,” Hill recalls. “Brad Johnson finished out the year really strong for us. He went out of the huddle. I came running in so the crowd could give him a cheer, although I thought it was for me.</p><p>“I then took two knees.”</p><p>The Vikings showed no interest in re-signing Hill following the season. He was not exactly a hot commodity around the league, either.</p><p>But the 49ers called, and Hill eventually won a roster spot in 2006 as the No. 3 quarterback over Jesse Palmer.</p><p>Hill was in danger of becoming football’s version of Moonlight Graham until he was forced into the starting lineup at the end of the 2007 season. And he’s been winning games at a 75-percent clip ever since.</p><p>He takes his 9-3 record as a starter back to the Metrodome today in the only NFL game of the weekend featuring 2-0 teams. The 49ers face a stiff challenge in their bid to start a season with three consecutive victories for the first time since 1998.</p><p>And when asked what he believes he has to do to enable the 49ers to return with a victory, Hill answers, “Whatever it takes.”</p><p>He is considered the classic game manager. The 49ers want to run the football and play good defense. Therefore, Hill’s main responsibility is to avoid turnovers and other crippling mistakes.</p><p>Hill, who won the 49ers’ starting job in training camp over Alex Smith, has thrown for just 353 yards with one touchdown and no interceptions in victories over the Arizona Cardinals and Seattle Seahawks to open the season. He has mostly been a bit player in the 49ers’ success.</p><p>Coach Mike Singletary was asked if Hill is capable of putting a team on his back and carrying it to a victory. His answer did not sound overly enthusiastic.</p><p>“Hopefully, we never have to ask him to do that,” Singletary said. “Hopefully we don’t have to have a quarterback here in a position to just take us and put us on his back and take us down the field.”</p><p>But Hill has shown himself to be fully capable of doing what’s necessary to pull out victories, too.</p><p>Even his fourth-quarter comebacks are understated. Three of the 49ers’ past four victories have included late Hill-produced drives that provided the winning points.</p><p>Dec. 21, 2008: Down 13 points in the fourth quarter, Hill talks Singletary out of a benching and then delivers a 48-yard touchdown pass to Josh Morgan with 1:22 remaining for a 17-16 victory at St. Louis.</p><p>Dec. 28, 2008: He drives the 49ers 51 yards in the final minute of the game, allowing Joe Nedney to kick a field goal with no time remaining for a 27-24 victory over Washington in the season finale.</p><p>Sept. 13, 2009: Hill engineers a 15-play, 80-yard drive in the fourth quarter, culminated with his 1-yard scoring pass to Frank Gore, as the 49ers open the season with a 20-16 victory over the Cardinals.</p><p>“I believe that what he’s doing right now has been good enough the first two games,” Singletary said. “Going forward, to start with, we’re going to run the ball. We’re going to have to run the ball, and as we run the ball and Shaun Hill makes some plays here and there, and as he gets more comfortable, he can open it up a bit.”</p><p>Hill does not have a big ego. After all, he did not even attempt a pass in his teams’ first 92 NFL games, so he’s not complaining that the 49ers’ offense is focused on running back Frank Gore.</p><p>“We’ve been able to run the ball and that’s a good thing,” Hill said.</p><p>And he also does not have any concerns that the 49ers will be able to flip the switch and starting throwing the ball around the field if that’s what it takes to win a game.</p><p>“We practice all that stuff all the time,” he said.</p><p>For more on the 49ers, go to Instant 49ers at http://blog.press</p><p>democrat.com/49ers. You can reach Staff Writer Matt Maiocco via e-mail at matt.maiocco@press</p><p>democrat.com.</p>