Jeff Hostetler

William Jeffrey Hostetler (born April 22, 1961) is an American former professional football player who was a quarterback in the National Football League (NFL) for the New York Giants, Los Angeles/Oakland Raiders, and Washington Redskins.

He won Super Bowl XXV with the Giants after taking over midseason for an injured Phil Simms.

His nickname is "Hoss."

Hostetler started his career at Penn State, where he started three games for the 1980 season.

But Todd Blackledge soon beat him out for the starting quarterback job, and Hostetler transferred to West Virginia.

Hostetler sat out the 1981 season, due to NCAA transfer rules.

Hostetler's first game as a Mountaineer was a 41–27 win over the #9 1982 Oklahoma Sooners football team, when he threw for four touchdowns and 321 yards.

The upset victory earned Hostetler Offensive Player of the Week honors from Sports Illustrated.

Another big win that season was a week later against the Maryland Terrapins, who were led by Boomer Esiason.

The Mountaineers won 19–18 against the Top 10 ranked Terps.

The Terps lost the game on a two-point conversion, while Hostetler threw for 285 yards and a touchdown.

Hostetler led the Mountaineers to the 1982 Gator Bowl, where they lost to Florida State 31–12.

Hostetler totaled 1,916 yards with ten touchdown passes that season.

In 1983, Hostetler led the #7 Mountaineers over Big East rival Pitt after a fourth quarter run to beat the Panthers 24–21, the first victory over Pitt in seven years.

Hostetler led the game-winning drive that he capped out with a bootleg touchdown run for victory.

In the 1983 Hall of Fame Bowl, Hostetler pulled out a come-from-behind 20–16 victory over the University of Kentucky, throwing two touchdowns.

Hostetler finished his college career in the 1984 Hula Bowl and in the Japan Bowl.

Hostetler threw for 2,345 yards and 16 touchdowns his senior season.

Hostetler's two-year tenure at WVU led him to an 18–6 record under coach Don Nehlen.

Hostetler ranks among single-season leaders at WVU in total offense, passing yards, pass completions, pass attempts, touchdown passes and passing efficiency.

Hostetler also is the career leader in interception avoidance.

Hostetler was named to the WVU all-time roster.

Hostetler was named to the 1984 GTE/CoSIDA academic All-America team and that same year won the National Football Foundation postgraduate scholarship.

He was also a fan favorite in Morgantown and inspired a record, "Ole Hoss (The Ballad of West Virginia's Jeff Hostetler)".

Hostetler was drafted by the Giants in the third round of the 1984 NFL Draft.

In his first five seasons, he played sparingly, rarely making an appearance as he was the third-string quarterback behind Phil Simms and Jeff Rutledge.

The first time he ever touched a football in a regular season game was in the 1986 season, when he blocked a punt in a game against the Philadelphia Eagles.

His first start came late in the 1988 season, where he helped lead the Giants to victory in a road game against the New Orleans Saints.

In 1989, he started a key game in the middle of the season, leading the Giants to a Monday night victory over the Minnesota Vikings.

However, outside of these games, Hostetler's primary roles were mop-up duty and as a holder for kickers Raul Allegre, Bjorn Nittmo, and Matt Bahr.

Hostetler finally seemed to reach his breaking point in December 1990.

He had seen meaningful action in only one game that season, replacing Simms in the Giants' first game against the Phoenix Cardinals.

Although he led the team to victory by engineering a late comeback with the team down 19–10 (they would win 20–19), Simms resumed his starting position the next week.

Heading into Week 15 against the Buffalo Bills, Hostetler had decided that at the end of the season, he was retiring from the NFL and returning home.

Something happened that week, however, that would eventually lead him to change his mind.

In the second half of the Buffalo game, which the Giants would go on to lose, Simms again went down with an injury.

The Giants lost the game; Hostetler, speaking again to NFL Network, did not believe that Simms was hurt badly and figured that he was only a placeholder until Simms returned.

As it turned out, Simms had suffered a severe foot injury and thus would be out for the remainder of the season, giving Hostetler his long awaited opportunity.

In 1998, Hostetler was inducted into the West Virginia Sports Hall of Fame.

In 2007, in the episode of America's Game: The Super Bowl Champions that profiled the 1990 Giants team, Hostetler noted that he was frustrated with his lack of playing time and volunteered to play other positions, including wide receiver and blocker on the punt return team.