Jonathan Knight's Blog, page 2

October 14, 2014

Son of the Kardiac Kids?

With Brian Hoyer emerging out of the ether into a bona fide NFL quarterback, Browns fans have been drawing all kinds of parallels between Hoyer and Brian Sipe. Since I wrote a book on the Kardiac Kids, I've received a lot of questions about Hoyer and how he compares to Sipe, and I have to admit the similarities are pretty amazing.

Both were unwanted (Hoyer undrafted, Sipe a 13th round pick), both were backups for years before becoming starters, both were considered too small, and both have a knack for playing well under pressure and winning games. This year's Browns themselves are starting to emulate the 1980 Kardiac Kids - a team in which the whole is much better than the sum of its parts.

What makes Hoyer even more intriguing is the hometown connection - which forms parallels to Youngstown native Bernie Kosar, who arrived in the NFL the same autumn Hoyer was born.

Whatever happens - stay tuned: there's a great story brewing here. Perhaps one that will warrant a book someday...
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Published on October 14, 2014 09:32