Shortly after being selected by the Giants in the 1984 draft, quarterback Jeff Hostetler drew the ire of then-defensive coordinator Bill Belichick during an ill-fated practice 34 years ago.
“I am a rookie quarterback with three other veterans on the roster,” Hostetler, now 57, said this week on the “Three Guys Before the Game” podcast, via Pro Football Talk. “I’ve got Bill Parcells as a head coach, who did not want to draft me, and so I wasn’t one of his guys. I had Ron Erhardt as a quarterback coach, who had been in the league forever.
“It’s probably the best offense that I’ve ever been involved with as far as being consistent, verbiage, all those things. And so I’m involved with all these guys that are all veterans, and I’m thinking, ‘This is a tough situation for me to come into.’ And so I’m scared, basically. I’m thinking, ‘If I make a mistake these guys aren’t going to have any patience with me.'”
Given the opportunity to “run a little bit of the seven-on-seven for the defense,” Hostetler soon came to encounter Belichick.
“Belichick would always have these cards out and he would show us what he wants us to do. And then he would turn where the center would be, he would turn and he would watch his defense. And so we were running all these crossing routes … and so all of a sudden, we’re running these crossing routes, and he stands right there where the center is. I drop back, and it’s a 2-yard crossing route. And I drill it to the guy,” Hostetler recalled.
“Well, all of a sudden, Bill’s head is right in the way. It hits him in the head. His papers fly everywhere. The ball flies everywhere. Everybody stops and it’s like, everything just went quiet. It’s like, ‘Uh-oh.’ And then he starts ripping into me and yelling at me and grabbing his papers.”
Though the incident didn’t sit well with Belichick, the defensive squad felt different.
“After that was over with, I had almost every defensive player come up to me and say, ‘Hey, great job, Hoss. Great job.’ And it was like, I was accepted. … Belichick hated me after that, but my only response to him was, ‘Well, don’t stand there,'” Hostetler said.
Hostetler led the Giants to a Super Bowl XXV victory over the Bills in 1991, 20-19, after starter Phil Simms went down with an injury. He later signed with the Los Angeles Raiders in 1993.
Belichick, of course, has gone on to win five Super Bowls as head coach in New England.