Brad Hoover: Revisited

As once chronicled on here many moons ago, before the Carolina Panther's unceremonious dismissals the past three years of Josh Norman, Deangelo Williams, and Steve Smith, there was fullback Brad Hoover.

To recap, during the infamous off-season purge of 2010 the team cut ties with veteran starters up and down the roster from Maake Kemoeatu to Jake Delhomme, and chose not to re-sign Julius Peppers or my personal favorite all-time Panther Muhsin Muhammad (who opted to retire after seeing the writing on the wall).

Rather than being numbed, each successive move seemed to sting worse than the last as I watched the core of the Super Bowl XXXVIII team being dismantled before my eyes.

None of the moves hurt quite so much however as General Manager Marty Hurney’s decision to release Brad Hoover – the embodiment of the hard-nosed hometown hero, and a Monday Night Football sensation. I was as shocked as I was incensed. This was coming off the year in which he’d been the lead blocker for much of Deangelo and Jonathan Stewart’s dual 1,100 yard rushing seasons, while his cap hit was still only $900,000. It came a week or so after most of the other moves, and the rumor was the team had to wait until he’d returned from doing a service trip abroad for the League. One user comment on the Charlotte Observer’s article about the transaction perfectly encapsulated my own feelings: “Wow… I feel like I’m going to get a letter in the mail saying I’ve been cut as a fan”.

My loyalty to the franchise has never been as tested as it was that off-season. And as hopeless as it so often felt watching their abysmal offense, the following fall I took some cold comfort in seeing the roster struggle without so many core players, believing it was some sort of cosmic comeuppance for what I felt was Hurney’s boneheaded betrayal. (And I’ll admit flashes of this feeling returned to me when Steve Smith torched us during his first month as a Raven; I’m not sure I’ll ever fully pardon current GM David Gettleman).

Perhaps in light of the release of another beloved fullback this week in Mike Tolbert (which curiously hasn't bothered me that much), I began reflecting recently upon Hoover’s dismissal, when a thought struck me that I’ve never had before: Maybe it was all for the best.

I don’t mean in football terms like, “it was time to give his backup Tony Fiammetta a chance” or, “Hoover was probably over the hill,” but rather for the sake of his health.

I know this is not my judgement to make in the slightest. And knowing what we know now about CTE and other potential long term consequences of concussions and prolonged careers in the NFL, Hoover may very well have still wanted to continue playing. But still, after reading and watching so many horrifying accounts of former players who suffer short-term memory loss, hallucinations, depression, and worse – like Leroy Hoard, another retired fullback known for his bruising play - I couldn’t help but think: maybe they were unintentionally doing him a favor. And for the first time, I almost forgave Marty Hurney.

Hoover tried to catch on with the Titans the following season, but didn’t make the final roster and never played another down. He’s now a respected high school coach. Maybe it was all for the best.