QB HOYER, LIKE TEXANS, WON’T BE COUNTED OUT
Brian Hoyer isn’t surprised when he faces adversity.
He’s more surprised when he doesn’t.
So when he was replaced as the Houston Texans’ starting quarterback after Week 1 and suffered two concussions during the team’s uneven season, he viewed it as merely the latest chapters in a career defined by hardships.
He felt anger and disappointment about the benching and acknowledges it wasn’t the best of times in his relationship with Texans coach Bill O’Brien, who also coached Hoyer when both were with the New England Patriots.
But if Hoyer has a hallmark, it’s resiliency.
“Sports kind of parallels life,” Hoyer told USA TODAY Sports on Wednesday. “I look at it like, if this is the worst thing that happens to me in my life, my life is probably going to be OK.”
Hoyer, 30, is a fitting starter for a team that persevered in a topsyturvy season, rallying from a 2-5 start to win the AFC South with a 9-7 record. Houston is preparing to host the Kansas City Chiefs (11-5) in a wild-card playoff game Saturday.
Hoyer was redshirted at Michigan State, then the team brought in another quarterback the next spring to compete with him for the backup role. He was undrafted, signed by the Patriots and cut after playing sparingly behind Tom Brady for three seasons.
The kid from suburban Cleveland then got a chance with the Cleveland Browns. After starting and playing well, he blew out his knee, rehabbed and then watched the franchise draft Johnny Manziel. He played ahead of Manziel, then was benched. After arriving in Houston this season, he played, then was benched again.
Among those reaching out to Hoyer during this season’s adversity was Brady. For any significant achievement or setback, Hoyer said, Brady has been among the first to contact him. He said Brady told him to hang tough, keep his head up and stay ready.
“I just had a feeling that at some point it would come back to me,” Hoyer said of the starting quarterback role. “And when it did, I had to be ready to go.”
O’Brien has acknowledged that benching Hoyer for Ryan Mallett, who was released in late October, was a mistake. “As a leader, you have to be able to sit there and tell the truth to your players, O’Brien said Wednesday.
After suffering his first concussion in a Nov. 16 win vs. the Cincinnati Bengals, Hoyer suffered another Dec. 13 in a loss to the Patriots. He missed two games while in the league’s concussion protocol before returning Sunday in the AFC South-clinching victory vs. the Jacksonville Jaguars.
While recovering, Hoyer said, he reached out to those he trusted who had suffered concussions, including some who were forced to retire or sit out a season. He said he wasn’t having the more severe symptoms.
“With how it’s covered in the media and with the movie ( Con
cussion) out — don’t get me wrong, it’s a very important issue — but I put in the research, talked to the right people,” said Hoyer, who started nine games this season. “It has become this thing, you get concussions and you are going to have depression, have anxiety, kill yourself. I think there are other sides to it.
“You look at guys like Troy Aikman and Steve Young,” added Hoyer, referencing Hall of Famers who suffered concussions during their careers. “They are analyzing football games on live TV. I am good where I am at.”
He is where he began the season: starting at quarterback, the first time he has done so on a playoff team in seven NFL seasons. As for everything in between? “Crazy,” he said.