Kylin Hill refuses to play for Mississippi State football unless state flag is changed

Kylin Hill is holding out until the Mississippi state flag is changed.

Kylin Hill may have played his last down for the Mississippi State football program.

The 2019 First-Team All-SEC running back could have gone pro after his junior season in Starkville. Though he originally entered his name into the 2020 NFL Draft, Hill decided against going through with it in the hopes of having a spectacular senior season for the Mississippi State Bulldogs under new head coach Mike Leach.

Since then, it has been a very chaotic offseason in Starkville.

Leach was in hot water for tweeting out a picture of an older woman knitting a noose back in March. Now the NCAA, the SEC and Conference USA are threatening to pull championship events from the state of Mississippi until the state flag is changed. Mississippi is the only state in the union that displays the Confederate battle flag in its upper lefthand corner.

Hill sent out a message on Twitter Monday afternoon on how adamant he is about not playing for Mississippi State anymore if the state flag isn’t changed. He quoted tweeted Mississippi governor Tate Reeves to get everyone’s attention how serious he is about this political issue. If that doesn’t raise your eyebrows, what will?

“Either change the flag or I won’t be representing this State anymore [100 percent emoji] & I meant that .. I’m tired.”

Kylin Hill quote tweeted the Mississippi governor to change the state flag.

Since Hill is entering his fourth year removed from high school, he doesn’t have to play another snap for the Bulldogs. He could very easily enter the NFL’s Supplemental Draft and be ready to take his game to the professional level right away. Hill is coming off a 242-carry, 1,350-yard season for Mississippi State, one where he scored 10 touchdowns for the Bulldogs in 2019.

The Columbia, Mississippi native is arguably the best player on Leach’s team, along with Stanford Cardinal quarterback transfer K.J. Costello. The Bulldogs would be in contention for a bowl game in Leach’s first season in Starkville. However, they’re going to have an extremely tough time doing that if they don’t have one of the best running backs in the conference carrying the rock for them.

Hill isn’t the first marquee college football player threatening to hold out unless major changes were made. Oklahoma State Cowboys All-American running back Chuba Hubbard and linebacker Amen Ogbongbemiga threatened to holdout unless major changes were made to their program, stemming from head coach Mike Gundy wearing an OAN t-shirt while on a fishing trip.

While Hubbard, Ogbongbemiga and Gundy are moving forward together at Oklahoma State, this will be exponentially more challenging for Mississippi State to navigate. Mississippi politicians have been reluctant to addressing their state flag issue for years. For as talented of a player as Hill is for Mississippi State, he’s unfortunately not going to be the reason the state changes its flag.

For Mississippi, the state will have to pick between its flag or its star running back in Starkville.

For more NCAA football news, analysis, opinion and unique coverage by FanSided, including Heisman Trophy and College Football Playoff rankings, be sure to bookmark these pages.