Author Dick Baird wrote an article in 2003 :

“Football has an incredible bonding aspect to it. It demands an emotional investment. This is what makes it such a powerful force in character development as well as sacrifice. You never question anything about each other. It’s understood respect. This is my teammate. We will always be on the same team.”

Dick Baird continues, “Years from now, all players will realize the experience was really what it was all about — sort of like it’s not the destination, but the journey that is important. Along the way, mutual investment in emotion creates bonds that last a lifetime.”

Jim Bayless, author, lawyer, and former Longhorn Tennis great agree. Stating the quality of someone’s life journey is directly related to “developing and maintaining genuine, enduring relationships.” A team bond is one of those enduring relationships. 

Dr. Jim Hilliard’s Longhorn family football roots go back to the 1930’s.  

Bohn Hilliard 1934

Jim’s distant cousin,  Bohn Hilliard,  is a Hall of Honor inductee, an  All  SWC player in baseball with a batting average of .356, and SWC football player of the year in 1934.

 All of the Hilliard family both past and present are bonded together in spirit to support  a fine man who has given so much to so many.  

Below Tamara Hilliard shares Jim Hilliard’s story   

Please Help Us Strike Out ALS! Just a few months before his anticipated retirement and dream of perfecting his golf game, my precious husband, Jim Hilliard, was diagnosed with ALS (Lou Gehrig’s disease). Words no one ever wants to hear and words that have now changed our lives forever. The news is devastating, but we have a strong will to fight and an even stronger faith in God.

Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), also commonly known as Lou Gehrig’s disease, is devastating. It slowly kills the body’s motor neurons, paralyzing every muscle in the body until patients lose their ability to walk, talk, eat and eventually breathe. Today, there is no cure. Life expectancy is 2-5 years. 

Jim has had such a rich life and accomplished career. He is an athlete and a scholar, played college football on full scholarship at The University of Texas (Hook’em Horns)! He then graduated from The University of Texas at Galveston Medical Branch with his doctorate and enjoyed a 35 year career as an Orthopedic Surgeon in Arlington, Texas.

Jim is, first and foremost, a follower of Christ and the love of my life for nearly 30 years. He is an awesome Dad to our three sons and most recently a grandfather! His many loves are to read, play golf, create wonders in the kitchen and keep up with our youngest son’s professional baseball career as an outfielder for the Colorado Rockies, AA team. Family and friends are what he treasures most.

Facing a disease with no cure leaves us feeling helpless. Other than prayer, our only weapon is supporting the researchers who are racing the clock to find a cure. 

We are now publicly sharing our story because there is a desperate need for funds to help advance research. ALS is rare and the patient base does not really grow in size. Every 90 minutes someone is diagnosed, and every 90 minutes someone loses their battle. 

We want to help and we have chosen ALS Therapy Developement Institute (ALS TDI) as our Charity of Choice.  Here is why.

Our family wishes to see the day when no other family has to go through this experience of battling ALS. We are committed to help raise awareness and funding for ALS research. We share in the hope with the rest of the ALS Therapy Development Institute (ALS TDI) family of scientists and experts that they will be able to advance the most promising drug we have seen yet AT-1501. AT-1501 is an antibody therapeutic with comprehensive and promising preclinical data. It blocks specific immune cell activation and may protect nerves against the progression of ALS. Why we are excited about AT-1501? In preclinical testing, AT-1501 produced the most exciting outcomes we have seen in the over 300 drugs tested since the inception of ALS TDI. All of these data have been consistently reproduced, enhancing our excitement and confidence that AT-1501 is one of the best drug candidates ever developed for advancement to clinical trial for ALS.

The strategy to fight back against ALS is simple. Find ways to slow down the progression while research can continue to advance towards either halting its progress or even reverse it. 

ALS TDI was founded in 1999 in Cambridge, Massachusetts. It is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit biotech whose sole purpose is to find effective treatments for ALS. They have built a pipeline of potential treatments that they are moving forward through preclinical testing and teeing up the best for clinical trials, such as AT-1501!

Jim will be taking Radicava, the most recently approved drug to slow the disease and we are praying that it will slow his progression down and those other potential treatments, like AT-1501, advance rapidly forward and are found to help as well!

view the link to learn more about Jim’s struggle

www.als.net/teamhilliard

 The ALS Therapy Developmental Institute (ALS TDI) . They are the world’s foremost drug discovery center focused solely on ALS (Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis), based in Cambridge, MA.  It is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit biotech whose sole purpose is to find effective treatments for ALS. They have built a pipeline of potential treatments that they are moving forward through preclinical testing and teeing up the best for clinical trials, such as AT-1501!   

Tamara Hillard 

Obituary for Robert James Hilliard

FORT WORTH – Robert James Hilliard, M.D., won his battle against Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis on September 12, 2021. His broken body is now whole as he is rejoicing with his Heavenly Father and Savior, Jesus Christ. Jim was born on November 15, 1952, to Frankie Estelle Alexander and Henry Claude Beaumon Hilliard in Port Arthur, Texas. He graduated from Thomas Jefferson High School, where he was elected to the Senior Ball Court each year, was an All-State Offensive Guard and was recognized as an All American Offensive Guard in many polls his Senior year. Jim received a full football scholarship to the University of Texas in Austin.

He graduated in 1975 as a UT Letterman with a degree in Biology. He continued his education at the University of Texas Medical School in Galveston, Texas, and graduated in May of 1979. His General Surgery Internship was completed at Baylor University Medical Center in Dallas. His Orthopedic Residency was completed in June of 1984 in Galveston. Dr. Hilliard began in private practice as an Orthopedic Surgeon in Arlington, Texas in 1984. He had a private practice for many years in Arlington, Texas before being instrumental with a few others, in creating the orthopedic group, Arlington Orthopedic Associates in 1996. AOA is now one of the most successful orthopedic groups in the state.

Jim married the love of his life, Tamara Hext, on May 28, 1988, bringing with this union his precious three-year-old son, Jonathan Blake. They made their home in Arlington and began their family with the addition of Joseph Maxwell in 1990 and Samuel Beauman in 1994. Jim and Tamara built their dream home in 1993 in Mansfield, Texas where they lived for 22 years, raising their kids in the Mansfield School system.

Jim loved being a surgeon and was a brilliant mind, often reading a range of books from novels to biographies to an entire library of Theological Studies. Jim became a follower of Christ in 1999 and became a master at Apologetics and the history of Christian religion. He loved to garden, cook and enjoyed an array of outdoor activities over the years including tennis, marathons, mountain biking, hunting, cross country skiing and eventually golf, his most favorite outdoor passion.

Jim Hilliard loved his family deeply, caring for his mother, Estelle, who lived with them for 15 years until her death in 2007. His biggest passion was his boys. He loved teaching them about life, sports, and most of all about the love of Christ that he became so passionate about. Jim supported many ministries over the years including, Faith in Practice, Reasons to Believe, Search Ministries, Metroplex Women’s Clinic, and most passionately, Children’s Hunger Fund.

If you knew Jim, you knew he had a wicked wit and loved bantering with whomever he was close to. If he picked on you, he loved you. He also enjoyed a healthy debate of thought on serious topics like politics, religion, and philosophy. You had better know your stuff if you tangled with Jim Hilliard because he was most often correct and had a deep knowledge of all things. Jim had many who knew and loved him. Making and keeping lifelong friends was one of his many gifts.

The Hilliard’s sold their family home in Mansfield, Texas, and moved to Fort Worth in March of 2015 to be close to long-time friends and closer to the clubs where Jim loved to play golf. He loved to golf and he made it his main hobby and enjoyed playing with close friends and traveling to different destinations to challenge his game. It was during the game of golf in October of 2017 that Jim began to notice a change in his grip and golf swing. Along with other symptoms, Jim began to fear the worst, that he might have Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis and began plans for early retirement. The diagnosis would be confirmed by multiple Neurologists by March of 2018. Jim faced this battle head-on both in his faith and also in his ability to understand all the latest research and potential trials for ALS. Though today there are more promising therapies on the horizon, there was and still is no cure for ALS.

The four years Jim fought ALS were filled with many friends, family, doctors, and caregivers that all made living with ALS so much more bearable. The Hilliard family would like to thank Drs. Appel, Burk, Peralta, for their care, and Drs. Ramsey, Brentlinger, Purgason, and Stiefel for their friendship and care. Additionally, the Hilliard family would like to extend thanks to caregivers Amy Aceveda, Megan Dildy, Brandon Gaddy, Jordan Moree and James Moses for hours of gentle and kind care, and Beyond Faith Hospice during Covid 2020. As well, the Hilliard family would like to thank Knights of Comfort Hospice and Waldo Rios for holding his hand and making him comfortable until he embarked on his Heavenly journey.

Most of all, love and thanks to the “Tribe”. Special neighbors and friends who loved with passion prayed without ceasing, held our hands, brought food, cleaned, walked our dog, and checked and loved on us daily, there is no place like home. Special love for Jim’s dear friends, pastors, and mentors, Russ Barksdale and Randy Frazee.

Jim is survived by his wife, Tamara; siblings, Michael and Claudette; sons, Blake, Maxwell and Samuel; daughters-in-law, Tracy and Katalin; grandsons, Charles and Cameron; and many more in-laws or extended family members who loved Jim dearly. He is preceded in death by his mother, Estelle and his father, Claude.

Celebration of Life for Dr. Hilliard:
Church on Rush Creek
2350 SW Green Oaks Blvd, Arlington, TX 76017
October 9th, 2021 ~ 11:00am

John 14:1-3
“Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me. My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.”

2 Timothy 4:7
I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.

Robert James Hilliard, M.D. passed away peacefully on September 12, 2021, from complications of ALS, surrounded by those who loved him. We rejoice that he is now in His Father’s house. In lieu of flowers, please make donations in Jim’s honor to:

Children’s Hunger Fund
https://childrenshungerfund.org

Or
ALS Therapy Development Institute
www.als.net/teamhilliard

To send flowers or a memorial gift to the family of Robert James Hilliard please visit our Sympathy Store.

By PATRICK SAUNDERS | psaunders@denverpost.com | The Denver Post

PUBLISHED: July 21, 2020 at 7:47 p.m. | UPDATED: July 21, 2020 at 8:27 p.m.

COVID-19 will keep most fans out of Globe Life Field this season.

Most fans.

But thanks to the efforts of Rangers general manager Jon Daniels and his staff, one very special family was in attendance Tuesday night in a comfy, safe place.

Jim and Tamara Hilliard, the parents of Rockies rookie outfielder Sam Hilliard, were at the brand-new ballpark in Arlington, Texas to watch their son play the Rangers in an exhibition game. They plan to be back Friday night when the Rockies open their 2020 season.

Jim Hilliard is battling ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease.

“He’s doing good,” said his son, who was a Rangers fan while growing up in nearby Mansfield, Texas. “He’s still the same guy, great sense of humor, very positive. He’s keeping the family spirits up and still loves to see his family and his friends.

“The conversation I had with him and my mom was just kind of, ‘I can’t believe that it’s going to happen. They’re really going to let us do this.’ It was a conversation of cries and just relief. We haven’t seen each other for a while. We’re all really happy to reunite.”

After making his debut in the majors last August, Hilliard began using his high profile to raise money for ALS research. His mom, a former Miss Texas, business owner and commercial actor, has been the driving force behind Team Hilliard and its website (Twitter handle @TeamHilliardALS).

Jim Hilliard, a retired orthopedic and sports medicine surgeon, was officially diagnosed with ALS in 2018. Although his son prefers not to talk about his dad’s situation very often, it’s clear that this is a very big deal.

“It’s part of what makes this game great, for his family to be a part of their son coming back home and playing against the team he grew up rooting for,” Rockies manager Bud Black said. “We all know his dad’s situation. It’s rough. But it’s a gentle moment. It’s really cool.”

Hilliard continues to help in fight against ALS

December 9th, 2019

Thomas Harding

@harding_at_mlb

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Sep 23, 2019

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1:09

Hilliard on his dad, ALS research

SAN DIEGO — Outfielder Sam Hilliard is giving Rockies fans a unique opportunity to share in his family’s fight against ALS, the disease that his father, Jim, has been battling since before his official diagnosis in 2018.

MLB has launched its 2019 Winter Meeting Charity Auction to benefit five charities committed to research, care, awareness and education relating to ALS, and Hilliard is part of that effort.

A Spring Training VIP experience with Hilliard as one of three items for bid from the Rockies. The winning bid is good for a tour of Salt River Fields at Talking Stick in Scottsdale, Ariz., with Hilliard. Other bid items are lunch with general manager Jeff Bridich and manager Bud Black at Coors Field, and a VIP experience at Coors Field that includes tours of the press box and broadcast booths, plus time on the field to watch batting practice.

Hilliard, 25, has come a long way since the days he kept his family’s situation private, simply because he wasn’t sure of the right words. During the 2019 season, Hilliard became more vocal with Team Hilliard – the family’s effort to raise awareness, and raise money for ALS Therapy Development Institute.

Hilliard had a solid start to his Major League career — .273 with seven home runs and 13 RBIs in 27 games after his August debut.

His mother, Tamara Hext Hilliard, a former Miss Texas, business owner and commercial actor, has been the main driving force behind Team Hilliard — with its website, Twitter handle (@TeamHilliardALS) and hashtag (#strikeoutals). But Sam Hilliard has learned his bat has given him a platform.

“I didn’t want to talk about it too much,” Hilliard said during the season. “It was brand new to me. I didn’t know what was going on, what to expect. I didn’t know if I was going to be able to answer questions. It was emotional, obviously — still is.

“I just got to a point where I said to myself, ‘You’re not doing anything to help if you’re not talking about it. “Getting the word out there, spreading the word about the foundation, and doing whatever I can to help. They say there’s no cure, but it’s just an underfunded disease, and they’re working to find a cure.”

Sep 23, 2019

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2:49

Hiliard’s family on debut

Hilliard could not make it to the Winter Meetings in San Diego for the press conference announcing the initiative, but A’s outfielder Stephen Piscotty — who lost his mother to the disease in 2018 — spoke of Hilliard, and his admiration for how the family has joined the fight.

Like Hilliard, Piscotty struggled with the daunting amount of education he needed — about the disease itself, and about its challenges — after his mother was diagnosed. Piscotty was playing at the time for the Cardinals, who traded him to the A’s so he could be closer to his mother.

“I remember when I first found out the news, I didn’t know much about it either,” Piscotty said. “I just kept quiet for four or five days and did my own research. It started to eat at me, and the Cardinals could see that on me. They asked me what was going on and they sent me home for a few days so we could regroup as a family, which was really special for them to do.

“We regrouped. It was planning and things you need to do. You need to take those steps.”

Sam Hilliard, being younger and not established in his career when the diagnosis came, counts himself as fortunate he has parents in position to help.

Jim Hilliard, a longtime orthopedic surgeon and sports medicine specialist in Arlington, Texas, who also played football at the University of Texas in the early 1970s, began experiencing the effects of the disease in 2017.

On the November day that Sam Hilliard received the call that he would be invited to his first Major League camp, Jim was receiving treatments for the symptoms and hoping that ALS would not be the diagnosis.

The parents did their best to ease Sam’s mind.

Sam Hilliard with mom and dad

“I was worried,” Tamara Hilliard said. “This is a tough road, mentally and emotionally. I was worried this was going to be a strain on him emotionally. The first few months we were all very uncertain. We’re living a new normal now. When you’re first diagnosed with a disease like this, the fear of what is going to be is more powerful than what you really are in the day.

“I didn’t want to put a lot of that pressure on Sam in the beginning. He wasn’t comfortable talking about it, and I didn’t think he needed to. I knew the time would come when he would feel more comfortable talking about it. I think he’s done a beautiful job.”

The disease didn’t affect Jim Hilliard’s sense of perspective.

“It was a difficult time, and for him to accomplish what he accomplished, he needed to be fairly focused, obviously,” Jim Hilliard said. “I didn’t want my situation to detract from that.

“My situation is a gradual situation we’re dealing with. … There wasn’t anything that was going to happen the next day. The main thing was let Sam focus on Sam, and not try to burden him with everything that we were dealing with.”

The Hilliards keep moving forward.

In November, more than 235 people celebrated Jim Hilliard and raised funds for ALS TDI at Whiskey Ranch in Fort Worth. Baylor Orthopedic Spine Hospital and Mary and Dick Lowe helped fund the event, which served as a retirement party and 65th birthday party — occasions put on hold by the diagnosis.

Also, the Hilliards are participating in the I AM ALS takeover of Times Square in New York on Dec. 17. The basis is the belief that if a cure is found for ALS, critical breakthroughs could be unlocked for Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, Multiple Sclerosis and other diseases. Messages such as the one displayed by Jim and Tamara Hilliard in recent tweets from @TeamHilliard will be displayed on nearly a dozen screens, and photos will be taken in Times Square that morning.

Additionally, the Piscotty and Hilliard families are talking about ways to assist the Crawford Family Invitational Golf Tournament in Phoenix on Feb. 22, with net proceeds benefitting ALS CURE, a non-profit special fund of the Silicon Valley Community Foundation established by Stephen Piscotty. The event is put on by Giants shortstop Brandon Crawford and Piscotty.

Hilliard will return next season hoping to earn his first Major League Opening Day roster spot. Even as his father’s disease advances, he will keep an attitude fostered by his parents.

“My mom always says we’re not [letting] it kill our joy,” Hilliard said. “My dad, like I’ve said a bunch, is the same guy. He’s not going to let it change who he is as a person.

“He didn’t say that. But he just showed me that through life and the way he’s living. I never had a thought that it was going to change him and he was going to be a different guy.”

Hearing the words, “I am sorry, I believe you have ALS.” can be some of the most devastating words you will ever hear in your life. But it doesn’t have to be true. ALS does not have to win.

We cried, we prayed, we researched everything we could find and yet…..Jim still has ALS. We have come to accept it and rest in the knowledge that we only have to face one day at a time. We don’t have to know the entire process of how this disease will play out…the truth is, we just don’t know. Jim’s ALS progression seems to be slow and we are hoping it stays that way.

We have gone to great measures to try every treatment, tidy up things in our financial and familial word and research, research, research. We have updated wills, consolidated finances, and simplified everything. That is what ALS does…causes you to shift to short term mentality.

Recently, ALS TDI reached out to us to share some things that we would want people to know about ALS. So I deferred to the expert and asked Jim what he wants people to know about living with ALS….he said, “I don’t really want to talk about it, because when I talk about it, it makes it real.” That kind of sums it up nice and tidy doesn’t it? It’s hard to talk about.

When I asked him what has changed in his life since being diagnosed, his response made me tear up and beam with pride at the kind, sensitive, passionate husband I have. He said, “Since being diagnosed, our marriage is incredible. Our relationship is stronger and deeper and I am grateful for that.” He also said, “Our friends and family have been such an amazing comfort the way they have come around us and shown us such love and support. I love our Tribe “He added, “I have more time to read and learn and study the Bible.” Melt my heart. Oh and….”Before I was diagnosed with ALS I thought there were too many handicapped parking spots and now there are not enough!” Chuckle monkey. I love his sense of humor! Jim’s final comment on what he would want you to know is, “ALS just sucks.” A sentiment shared by 100% of the ALS community.

I can tell you that one thing that has happened along this journey is a deepening of our faith. God is truly big enough to help us navigate this journey. We were never promised a life without struggle, only that HE would be with us and meet our needs as we navigate the struggles. It is true. Learning to live with ALS has encouraged us to deepen our relationship with Christ, to reach out and support others who are walking the walk, to learn from them and in some cases to teach them what we have learned.

We know that all people and families go through challenges, face diseases and heartbreak. ALS is not unique in this way, but it is a disease that has no treatment, no cure, and no hope for recovery. Just a slow melting away of strength, breath, and life. It’s hard for some to face a disease with no hope of getting better. I want you to know that how you live with ALS is a choice. Choose joy over sadness, love more, laugh a lot and smile when you feel like crying. Embrace your tribe and know that when you are “weak in body” you can be “strong in faith.”

Our family wishes to see the day when no other family has to go through this experience of battling ALS. We are committed to helping raise awareness and funding ALS research and we have chosen the ALS Therapy Development Institute as our research partner of choice. Last May we were able to raise over $62, 000 in a letter and social media campaign. We will support ALS Awareness Month again this year and hope to increase our research fund by $10,000. In the end, WE WILL WIN, because we will not allow ALS to break our spirit.

We also have a new way to give back to the ALS Research Community. We have launched a T-shirt website called “Team Hilliard Threads for ALS” where we are offering a few T-shirt designs that People living with ALS can customize for their Team or fundraising event and we will donate every dollar through the month of May back to ALS TDI.