I just had a post in each of the last couple days relating to the New York Giants. Two days ago, I posted about a very memorable Monday Night Football game, when the Giants hosted the San Francisco 49ers to open up the 1991 season. Then yesterday, I posted a blog entry with pictures about the weekend, in which a football game (preseason) between the Giants and Jets figured prominently.
Well, with football season now officially right around the corner (less than a week away!), it seemed fitting to focus on the NFL again, and particularly my favorite team, the New York Giants.
So, here is another blog entry on the subject, this one focusing on Jeff Hostetler. You remember him, right? He was the career backup quarterback who got his chance to start after Phil Simms went down with a broken leg during the 1990 season. Simms had been enjoying an MVP-caliber season, and led all quarterbacks in ranking to the point where he got injured against the Buffalo Bills during a regular season meeting (which Buffalo won).
Hostetler, who had memorably filled in after an earlier injury to Simms against the Cardinals and led the Giants to an incredible fourth quarter comeback after trailing by nine, had to step up again. The Giants lost the game against Buffalo, but Hostetler had a solid game against the Cardinals in Arizona the next week, to clinch a playoff bye as the second seed. Then, a narrow victory against the then lowly New England Patriots.
But Hostetler really shined in the playoffs, performing in a dazzling manner against the Chicago Bears, when some were suggesting that, without Simms, the Giants were finished. He did very well again the following week at San Francisco, in what still remains as likely the most intense NFL football game that I ever saw. He bested his rival across the field, Joe Montana (who himself went out with a serious injury during the game, from which he would never really be the same again), and the Giants earned a trip to the Super Bowl.
Once there, Hostetler capably led his team to victory. Some of his most memorable plays included a brilliant, picture perfect touchdown pass to Stephen Baker just before halftime, cutting the Bills lead from 12-3 to 12-10, putting the Giants back in the game. He played well on that day, but perhaps the most valuable play that he should be remembered for was, in fact, a misfortune. He tripped over the feet of O.J. Anderson, the Giants running back, and was falling in the end zone when Bruce Smith of the Bills grabbed for him. It could easily have been a touchdown, but Hostetler pulled the ball to him, providing the Bills with a safety, but preventing what surely would have been a disastrous touchdown that likely would have won the game for Buffalo. Considering that the Giants barely scraped by with the narrowest of margins - a one-point victory that still ranks as the closest Super Bowl in history, the Giants really needed that kind of a break, even if it looked like a bad bit of luck. I was satisfied at the time that he had not given up the touchdown, although the way that the game was going to that point, it looked like it was all falling apart for the Giants.
Still, they won, and that gave Hostetler a chance to join the elite ranks of Super Bowl winning quarterbacks. He would be named the starter for the Giants in 1991 and again in 1992, before moving on to become the starting quarterback for the Los Angeles Raiders. Eventually, he ended his career in Washington.
But I always wondered what had become of him. Not long after the Super Bowl win, he created his own charity, the Hoss Foundation. This charity has continued to be active in giving gifts to underprivileged families during the Christmas season.
Tellingly, Hostetler suggested that he is more proud of what he has accomplished off the field than anything that he did on it.
Here is a link to the article,if interested:
Hostetler Shares Super Bowl Memories Posted by Scott Grayson, Feb 02, 2013:
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