Super Bowl Monday_ From the Persian Gulf to the Shores of West Florida - Adam Lazarus [2]
The historic action that took place on the field that day is the reason for this book. But the men who carried out those graceful or superb displays of athleticism that evening are what I hope you will find most captivating.
Adam Lazarus
October 2010
Prologue
November 9, 1986
Week Ten of the 1986 National Football League season was a typical one for the New York Giants. Linebacker Lawrence Taylor guided the team to a shutout of the Philadelphia Eagles through the first three quarters. The eventual league Most Valuable Player tallied three sacks and seven tackles in the NFC East showdown at Veterans Stadium. A pair of touchdowns by all-pro running back Joe Morris gave New York a seventeen-point lead late in the third quarter. And clutch passing by quarterback Phil Simms added just enough for the Giants to secure a 17-14 win over their division rival.
Equally routine that afternoon was the sight of Jeff Hostetler and Ottis Anderson watching most of the action from the Giants’ sideline.
Few people possessed Hostetler’s blend of intelligence and athleticism. Although six feet, three inches tall, 215 pounds, and blessed with speed and a strong throwing arm, brains were probably his greatest asset. After earning first-team academic all-American honors at the University of West Virginia, the finance major was nominated for a Rhodes scholarship.
Those physical and mental tools intrigued the Giants, who not only selected Hostetler in the third round of the 1984 NFL draft but also signed the twenty-three-year-old to a three-year, $1 million contract prior to his rookie season.
Regardless of his talents—and his comparatively large salary—in three years on the Giants’ roster, Hostetler never dropped back in the pocket, never read the opposing defense’s coverage to find the open receiver, and never threw a pass. Instead, Hostetler earned (very minimal) playing time only as a special teamer and, occasionally, an emergency wide receiver.
“What it made you feel like was that you weren’t really part of the team. Here you are, you do all the work during the week and then come Sunday you stand there and watch,” Hostetler said years later. “It was extremely difficult mentally because you know that if you had the opportunity to go out and perform and make some mistakes and learn from it that you could do that job. But to never have the opportunity was extremely frustrating.”
By the middle of his second season, Hostetler could no longer take the inaction.
“I wanted desperately to get out on the field and get into the game, use myself up a little, so I asked if I could play on any of the special teams,” Hostetler later wrote. “Then a couple of the wide receivers got hurt and we were running low on them in practice so I volunteered to run the plays. The coaches liked what they saw and they told [head coach Bill Parcells] that if they ever needed somebody, they could put me in as a receiver. . . . In the end, I got into quite a few games, which was better than just sitting on the bench eating my heart out.”
And despite not doing so as a quarterback, Hostetler did make an impact for the Giants.
Midway through the second quarter of the Week Ten battle in Veteran Stadium, New York forced the Eagles to punt. Coach Parcells sent onto the field his return squad, of which Hostetler was a member. While both teams were lining up to start the fourth-down play, Eagles tight end John Spagnola—still discussing pass routes on the sidelines with his fellow receivers—forgot to fill his special teams duties as a blocker for the punt team.
“I knew they had only 10 men on the field,” Hostetler said, “because there was no one on me. When I saw that, I hurried up and got down. I didn’t want them to see me.”
At the snap, Hostetler knifed through the line and deflected punter John Teltschik’s kick. The ball went four yards past the