On and off the field, Hiller set new standards for excellence within the Western Michigan football program. The senior signal-caller is the Broncos’ career leader in passing yards, touchdown passes, completions and total offense. This season he earned second-team All-Mid-American Conference honors after throwing for 3,249 yards and 23 touchdowns.

“This kid is really something special, and when you meet the kid you’ll understand why,” Western Michigan coach Bill Cubit said.

In the class room, Hiller maintained a perfect 4.0 grade-point average throughout college. And along with a slew of other community-service activities, he joined 23 other college students on a faith-based mission to Trinidad where, among other things, he visited youth prisons and drug clinics and witnessed firsthand the devastating impact of poverty on a nation. ​

“Here in these economic times we’re going through, we take a lot of things for granted and we think we have it rough,” Hiller said. “But the reality is a bad day here looks pretty good down there. I was further opened to that through the experience.”