Brian Hoyer
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I am ready to "over-hype" him some more.
If you aren't rooting for this kid, then I really don't even know why you follow sports, let alone the Browns.
For Browns QB Brian Hoyer, Sunday marks a homecoming almost 28 years in the works
Sep 26, 2013 -- 6:00am
By Tony Grossi | ESPNCleveland.comThe Morning Kickoff …
The next generation: It wasn’t Brian Hoyer’s birthright to some day play quarterback for the Browns. Every kid in Greater Cleveland of his generation who loved football dreamt of doing that.
He just happened to be born the same day Bernie Kosar made his first NFL start for the Browns on Oct. 13, 1985.
“My dad always told me that,” Hoyer said to me on Wednesday. “He said he was waiting for me to be born while watching that game.”
For the record, Kosar endured a difficult day in his first start as a 21-year-old rookie. But he beat a couple of Jerry Glanville’s all-out blitzes in the second half and returned from the Astrodome in Houston with a 21-6 victory over the Oilers.
Hoyer had no less difficult time than Kosar in his first outing for the Browns Sunday in Minnesota. A generation apart, the most obvious parallel was that both quarterbacks persevered and produced a victory that instilled confidence in them from teammates hungry for someone to lead them.
When Hoyer scanned the dozens of texts and messages of congratulations on his smart phone after the 31-27 win over the Vikings, the one from Kosar stood out.
“You look down on your phone and there’s ‘Hey, it’s Bernie Kosar,’” Hoyer said. “For me, when I used to wear his jersey in the backyard to now getting a message from him, that’s pretty cool.
“I do remember seeing him play. We had season tickets, so we were going all the time. Every game me and my dad would go. Our seats were behind one of the posts. I just remember trying to look around the post and seeing if Eric Metcalf made it up the middle.”
Hoyer was only 8 when Kosar was banished in the middle of the 1993 season by Bill Belichick. He was, of course, the same coach who eventually signed Hoyer for the New England Patriots as an undrafted free agent from Michigan State in 2009. That’s a story for another day.
The homecoming: Hoyer grew up in suburban North Olmsted and played high school football for inner city powerhouse St. Ignatius, of course. Unlike Kosar, who was born and bred a Browns fan in Boardman, 80 miles southeast, near Youngstown, Hoyer is a true-blue Clevelander.
He will make his first start in his home stadium Sunday against the Cincinnati Bengals. Brandon Weeden has been ruled out for the second week in a row with a sprained thumb.
“Sure, it means a lot,” Hoyer said about the occasion. “I think this is the part, when you guys ask me does it mean more, obviously playing at home, it’s going to be special. But once they kick that ball off, that’s what you have to worry about. Maybe you think about it after the game. It’ll be awesome. Our fans will be great.”
The more you’re around Hoyer, the more you can feel the influence on him by Tom Brady, the Patriots quarterback for whom he understudied three years with New England.
Asked about his debut Sunday in Minnesota, in which he shook off three interceptions and led the Browns to their first win with a touchdown pass to Jordan Cameron in the last minute of the game, Hoyer said, “It was OK. I’m really disappointed in myself with those decisions I made because those are kind of easy things. Usually that’s not in my game to make bad decisions like that. But you watch it and you move on.”
Hoyer cobbled together a winning effort despite practicing with the first team for the first time on Wednesday since he joined the team in May. He worked with the third-teamers throughout training camp and preseason and practiced with the scout team the first two weeks of the regular season.
“I think just came out and played relaxed,” Hoyer said. “A lot of people probably thought I’d be nervous or anxious. For me, I always feel the best when I get to the stadium and get into a routine, get going. That probably helped me loosen up a bit, we had a few drives get going early, some big plays. You just have to be yourself. I’m not really concerned with what I did best. I’m concerned with what I did poorly. You try to learn from that and move on.”
When asked about Brady’s influence on Hoyer, receiver Josh Gordon said, “Sitting behind a guy like Tom Brady, you’re definitely going to pick up some things, especially after three years. You’re going to pick up his habits of the game, his leadership capabilities. You’re going to take that with you.”
One hungry quarterback: One of the interesting differences in the Browns’ passing game with Hoyer at the helm was the utter resolve to get the ball in the hands of Gordon. Hoyer targeted the smooth receiver 19 times – far more than any game with Weeden at quarterback last year.
“I’m very confident in him,” Gordon said. “He’s a real fired-up mentality kind of guy. He never seems to get rattled, after the interceptions, sacks, just bad plays. He comes out there the next drive and acts like it never happened and that’s just exactly what we need.”
Gordon observed a difference between Hoyer and Weeden.
“Hoyer definitely seems more like a scrappier player out there,” he said. “I don’t know, he just wants to prove himself. He just doesn’t really care what people think about him, anything like that, whatever his situation was about being a backup and how he got into this position now, he just wants to take full advantage of it.”
The new Browns’ regime has talked about fielding “hungry” players. There might not be a hungrier one on the team right now. Hoyer has been yearning for this job, well, since he was born.
http://espncleveland.com/common/more.php?m=49&action=blog&r=17&post_id=22751
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What were your impressions? Josh Gordon obviously boosted him a lot, but he threw into a lot of tight windows that I think Weeden otherwise would have missed, he also had some decent evasions that I feel Weeden would have otherwise gotten trunched on.
made a few awful mistakes but he comes off to me as the type that will study the film and learn from his mistakes to get better. He seems physically ready just not mentally ready yet.
321 yards (albeit with 54 attempts) 3 td 3 int in his first start with the Browns. I say we give him the rest of the season and see what we have with him.
What were your impressions? Josh Gordon obviously boosted him a lot, but he threw into a lot of tight windows that I think Weeden otherwise would have missed, he also had some decent evasions that I feel Weeden would have otherwise gotten trunched on.
made a few awful mistakes but he comes off to me as the type that will study the film and learn from his mistakes to get better. He seems physically ready just not mentally ready yet.
321 yards (albeit with 54 attempts) 3 td 3 int in his first start with the Browns. I say we give him the rest of the season and see what we have with him.
That works for me. They were talking last week about the team needing a "spark". Brian did a hell of a job, and as the game went on he gave us more and more hope to win it. I know that Weeden will be back soon but if Hoyer keeps winning Weeden will be the one with the clip board. Gordon is a beast, expecting more great things for him...
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Hoyer makes the offense exciting to watch. Don't underestimate him - the fire didn't seem to
happen with Weeden.
Hoyer loves the game, and he sees the field. That is a huge improvement over Weeds with
the big NFL arm.
Yeah, I see Hoyer as having similar fire and ability to see the field as Sipe and Kosar.
This next game will be a bigger test...
but I found it interesting that 57 % of the SBNation experts picked the Minnesota defense
in fantasy football, over the Steeler defense next week. And Ponder got banged up by the Browns,
and Cassel may start. And AP gets his solid fullback back.
I love it when the players LOVE the game. And Hoyer seems to be the only qb that fits with that with the Browns.
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Hoyer is such a fantastic Cleveland sports story waiting to happen, right on the heels of the Indians amazing run. He even LOOKS like Cleveland, like several kinds of Eastern European all mixed up together.
But I see it, what all those "insiders" see (and now Kosar, too). It's not all intangibles. He processes fast, sees the field, understands what's happening. He has a quick, compact release and a clock in his head (unlike pretty much the last 17 Browns QBs since Kosar). He has above average mobility and can get out of trouble pretty damn well. He can zip it and he can go over the top. Short of a cannon, I'd say he has a good arm. Belicheck used to say he has a really good arm. I think it's getting underrated because of Weeden's cannon.
A lot of people who spend a lot of time around football watch Hoyer and say, "He's got it." It's just a rare combination of tangibles and intangibles that add up to "it." Let's hope they're right, because it would be a blast.
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Hoyer is such a fantastic Cleveland sports story waiting to happen, right on the heels of the Indians amazing run. He even LOOKS like Cleveland, like several kinds of Eastern European all mixed up together.
But I see it, what all those "insiders" see (and now Kosar, too). It's not all intangibles. He processes fast, sees the field, understands what's happening. He has a quick, compact release and a clock in his head (unlike pretty much the last 17 Browns QBs since Kosar). He has above average mobility and can get out of trouble pretty damn well. He can zip it and he can go over the top. Short of a cannon, I'd say he has a good arm. Belicheck used to say he has a really good arm. I think it's getting underrated because of Weeden's cannon.
A lot of people who spend a lot of time around football watch Hoyer and say, "He's got it." It's just a rare combination of tangibles and intangibles that add up to "it." Let's hope they're right, because it would be a blast.
Hoyer is such a fantastic Cleveland sports story waiting to happen, right on the heels of the Indians amazing run. He even LOOKS like Cleveland, like several kinds of Eastern European all mixed up together.
But I see it, what all those "insiders" see (and now Kosar, too). It's not all intangibles. He processes fast, sees the field, understands what's happening. He has a quick, compact release and a clock in his head (unlike pretty much the last 17 Browns QBs since Kosar). He has above average mobility and can get out of trouble pretty damn well. He can zip it and he can go over the top. Short of a cannon, I'd say he has a good arm. Belicheck used to say he has a really good arm. I think it's getting underrated because of Weeden's cannon.
A lot of people who spend a lot of time around football watch Hoyer and say, "He's got it." It's just a rare combination of tangibles and intangibles that add up to "it." Let's hope they're right, because it would be a blast.
I think you're glorifying him a bit. He has a quick, compact release but I would hardly qualify him as above average in the mobility department nor would I say he has a really good arm. He's certainly passing the eyeball test as far as his ability to make quick decisions and scan the field and he doesn't seem to predesignate his receiver before the snap. His biggest attribute, in my opinion, is his ability to throw receivers open, something Weeden has not exhibited once in his stint in Cleveland.
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