Jersey product Hogan the new hero
TOM BRADY has cycled through a host of receivers on his road to seven Super Bowl appearances. The latest to rise from anonymity? Chris Hogan.
The undrafted New Jersey native, who played one year of football at Monmouth, exploded for nine receptions, 180 yards (a Patriots playoff record as well as the most in a postseason game by an undrafted player) and two touchdowns in New England’s 36-17 AFC title win over Pittsburgh.
“It’ll be something that definitely I’ll remember for the rest of my career, and probably for the rest of my life,” Hogan said of his record performance.
He exploited holes in the Steelers’ secondary all night, slipping behind the defense in the end zone on his first touchdown as though nobody knew he was there.
Going overlooked has become somewhat of a theme for Hogan throughout a rollercoaster NFL career. On the 2012 season of HBO’s “Hard Knocks,” Reggie Bush nicknamed him 7-Eleven because Hogan was “always open.” But the Dolphins later cut him at the end of that preseason, one of four teams — including the Giants, who signed him to the practice squad in 2011 and released him after just 11 days — that would refuse to take a long-term chance on Hogan before he landed a role with Bill Belichick’s Patriots.
“Yeah, it’s been a long journey,” Hogan said. “But I’ve worked hard to get to this point and I just couldn’t be happier that I get to be a part of this team, this whole thing.”
A dual sports star in football and lacrosse coming out of Ramapo High School in New Jersey, Hogan elected to attend Penn State for lacrosse, and played three seasons there before graduating with a year left of eligibility. He used it at Monmouth, where he scored three touchdowns as a receiver and had three interceptions as a defensive back. Only six other Monmouth alumni have appeared in NFL games.
But Hogan sure looked like he belonged as the Patriots marched to Super Bowl LI. In fact, he had an identical stat line to Falcons star WR Julio Jones in Atlanta’s NFC title rout of the Packers earlier in the day.
And with Steelers stud Antonio Brown getting all the hype coming into this matchup, it was Hogan who was the best receiver on the field. GETTY