Shaun Hill spent four seasons as the Vikings No. 3 quarterback from 2002-05 and had only two kneel-downs at the end of a game in 2005.

He became an unrestricted free agent after that season and didn't get any real interest from other teams for months.

"There was some doubt that crept in," Hill said during a conference with Twin Cities media Wednesday. "It's tough for guy going into his fifth season that has absolutely zero film to find a job." Hill said he and his agent began discussing Plan B -- life after football. Asked what they decided, Hill joked, "We didn't come up with a good one." "I was definitely going to just stay in shape," he said. "At least give it a year. Hopefully somebody would bring me in later in the year if injuries happened and things like that. But I was going to stay ready to go for at least a year and then kind of revisit that Plan B." Hill got his break in June 2006 when he signed with the San Francisco 49ers. He spent one season as the No. 3 quarterback, became the starter midway through last season and won the job outright in a competition with former No. 1 overall draft pick Alex Smith in training camp this summer. Hill has steered the 49ers to a 2-0 start entering Sunday's game against his former team. "I did have a new appreciation [for football] when I signed out here," he said. "I knew that this was an opportunity that I didn't want to let pass." Hill has completed 64.9 percent of his passes for 353 yards with one touchdown and no interceptions. He has a 87.8 quarterback rating. He has earned the "game manager" label because he doesn't exactly frighten opposing defenses, but you can't argue with his won-loss record. Hill is 9-3 as a starter; the 49ers are 5-17 with other starting quarterbacks since Hill joined the team. "It doesn't matter to me really what people call me just as long as we're winning games," he said. "You mention a guy who makes plays whenever he needs to or gets first downs or doesn't turn the ball over. I don't know what else there is to play quarterback. Those are things every quarterback that's going to win needs to do. I don't know why it's different for me, but I suppose it is."