Family, friends, teammates, neighbors, and former coaches, including Alabama head coach Nick Saban, who recruited and coached Hill at Louisiana State University, all came to mourn him. The LSU football staff, now coached by Les Miles, even sent flowers.
Former Patriot linebacker Andre Tippett, now with the team in a community relations capacity, said that after the organization was made aware of Hill's death, owner Robert Kraft and coach Bill Belichick decided the Patriots should pay their respects to Hill as a team.
"Going down as a team says a lot about the organization and the Kraft family," said Tippett. "It was the right thing to do and it sends a powerful message."
"When you talk about being a family, you can't be there just for the good times," said Kraft. "This is an unfortunate tragedy."
The Patriots pulled up at the funeral home on Canal Street at 4:12 p.m. After holding meetings in the morning at Gillette Stadium, nearly the entire team boarded buses that left Gillette at 11:45 a.m. for Logan Airport, where the team took a Delta charter flight to New Orleans. After landing at Louis Armstrong/New Orleans International Airport, the Patriots boarded five buses and headed to Hill's wake.
They entered the funeral home through the back entrance, led by Kraft and his wife, Myra, Belichick, and vice president of player personnel Scott Pioli. Inside, Kraft said, there was an impromptu service in the chapel where Hill's family helped comfort the Patriots players.
Hill's mother, Sherry, told the team how much playing for the Patriots meant to her son, and Belichick, among others, addressed Hill's life.
Several of those who were inside said it was tough for Hill's teammates to grasp the loss. Tippett said he saw a lot of blank stares on the players' faces as they passed the casket.
"They're still hurting," said Tippett. "They just spent three or four days with Marquise in practice and all of the sudden a couple of days later he's gone. I think a lot of them were shocked, especially the guys who played with him."
