Teams
- New York Giants (1984-1992)
- Los Angeles/Oakland Raiders (1993-1996)
- Washington Redskins (1997-1998)
Accolades
- 2x Super Bowl Champion (XXI, XXV)
- 1x Pro Bowl (1994)
“One of the main things I tried to do is explain to the team that Jeff Hostetler wasn’t going to be the reason why we didn’t succeed. I said, ‘If our team is good enough to do this, which I think we are, he’ll do his part.’ So I just tried to show confidence in Jeff, and I had confidence in him. You never really know what’s going to happen, but I didn’t feel like he was going to hold us back in any way.”
—Bill Parcells, Hall of Fame Head Coach, New York Giants (source)
Jeff Hostetler’s career is pretty much remembered for one shining moment, the 20-19 upset of the Buffalo Bills in Super Bowl XXV. But after that game, he would go on to have a string of very successful seasons for both the Giants and the Raiders, showing he was anything but a one-trick pony. In fact, he was one of the league’s most consistent quarterbacks. From 1989-1996 he would finish every season with a passer rating between 80.5-84.1. So, while he would not again match the heights he attained on January 27, 1991, he would continuously prove to be one of the most consistent QBs in the league during the early ‘90s.
Taken in the 3rd round of the 1984 NFL Draft, Hostetler would spend years frustratingly stuck behind Phil Simms, getting no starts until 1988, and then only two total over the next two seasons (both wins). Already at 29 years of age, doubting whether or not he’d get any playing time (let alone making a Top 50 QBs of all-time list), Hostetler would be called to duty. Simms would go down with a foot injury in a late-December match-up against Buffalo. Despite Hostetler’s efforts, the Giants would fall 17-13 at the Meadowlands. The news after the game was stark, Simms would be lost for the remainder of the season. Now 11-3, the Giants new QB would lead them to two three-point victories to wrap up the season at 13-3.
Gifted with a Super Bowl contender, and all the pressure that comes with it, the veteran of a mere four starts in seven years would lead the Giants to a 31-3 trouncing of the Bears in the Divisional Round. Hostetler was a smart 10-for-17 passing for 112 yards, but also ran for 43 more, and had three touchdowns to a lone fumble. But the real test was the following week, at San Francisco, against Joe Montana and the two-time defending Super Bowl champs. Needing a spectacular performance from his defense, Hostetler would get it as they would hold the Niners to 13 points. But down 13-6 in the third quarter, he would take the Giants on three drives that resulted in Matt Bahr kicks, including a 42-yarder to win the NFC for the G-Men. Needing to avoid mistakes at all costs, Hostetler may have only contributed 187 total yards and no TDs, but critically, he neglected to turn the ball over either.
Under their 29-year old quasi-rookie, the Giants were headed to their second Super Bowl in five years. Their opponent, was Hostetler’s first of the year, the Buffalo Bills who had just punished the L.A. Raiders 51-3 in the AFC Championship game. The game would be remembered most for the Giants defensive stand and Scott Norwood’s 47-yard “Wide Right” kick in the waning moments. But Hostetler was quiet perfection. His 20-for-32 effort went for 222 yards, with an additional 10 yards on the ground, and a passing TD to Stephen Baker before the half to cut the Bills’ lead to two points. Less than two months prior, Jeff Hostetler was contemplating his NFL future. At the end of Super Bowl XXV, he was headed to Disney World.
Trying to follow up their Super Bowl performance, new Giants Head Coach Ray Handley decided to, controversially, let Hostetler and Simms battle it out. The winner would be Hostetler, who would start the first 12 games of the year, leading the Giants to 6-5. But against Tampa Bay in Week 13, he would break a bone in his back, ending his campaign. Prior to the injury, he had been leading the league with a 2.4% INT percentage. Simms would come back to fill in admirably, but a string of losses over the next three games essentially ended the year for the eventual 8-8 defending champs.
Then in ’92, the tables would turn. Simms would go down with a season-ending elbow injury. Hostetler would come back in to salvage a 1-3 start and would go 5-4 as starter to get the Giants back into contention. But then he too would be crippled by a season-ending injury, a concussion, and the Giants would lose their final three games, costing Coach Handley his job. In the offseason, Hostetler would sign with the Los Angeles Raiders, who had gone 7-9 the previous year under Jay Schroeder and Todd Marinovich.
Looking for a savior, the Raiders would get one in Hostetler, who would go 10-5 in his starts. Hosting Denver in the Wild Card round, he would show greater consistency than his opposing counterpart, John Elway. Hostetler would play turnover-free football in a 13-for-19 performance that including three passing TDs in a 42-24 victory. It looked as if there might be some lingering magic left from his Giants days. But three-time defending AFC champion Buffalo would get their revenge on Hostetler the following week. Despite a 23-22 fourth quarter lead, the Raiders D would give up a critical 22-yard TD to Jim Kelly and Bill Brooks. Hostetler was unable to move the Raiders into the red zone after that. The Raiders’ QB was again consistent with 259 total yards, a touchdown, and 14-for-20 passing in the season-ending defeat.
Jeff Hostetler would have arguably his best season yet in 1994. Earning his first Pro Bowl nod, he would throw for 3,334 yards and 20 touchdowns. But the L.A.’s 9-7 mark left them out of the postseason due to a tiebreaker with the Chiefs. Calling Oakland home again, for the first time since ’81, and looking to bounce back under new Head Coach Mike White, the 1995 season got off to a promising 8-2 start for the Raiders. Hostetler was putting together another solid season until mid-November when he would leave the contest against Dallas with a shoulder injury. He would come back in the second-to-last week against Seattle, but it was too late by then. The promising 8-2 start had derailed to an 8-8 finish. Again, the Raiders would fall just short of the postseason.
After an 0-2 start to the 1996 season, Head Coach White would replace starter Billy Joe Hobert with Hostetler who would help them win four of the next six. But a mid-season slide consisting of three losses in a row (two overtime defeats and a one-point loss) cost them critical momentum. A follow-up three game win streak wasn’t enough as the Raiders finished 7-9 (although 7-6 with Hostetler as starter). Despite only 13 games, he threw a career-high 23 touchdowns. But with his time in Oakland expired, Hostetler would find himself in Washington the next two seasons, going 2-1 as a starter in ’97 and not getting any playing time in ’98 before retiring after the season.
Consistent. That’s Jeff Hostetler. Like Jim McMahon, he was a guy who wouldn’t blow you off the field, but a guy who found ways to win. He could also run effectively, notably rushing for over 200 yards in 1991 and 1993 despite not starting all 16 games in either season. His postseason efforts were also tremendous. His lone loss was a late six-point defeat to Buffalo. He never threw a postseason interception in five starts, and only fumbled the ball twice. I don’t know that Giants fans could have imagined a Super Bowl was in their future when the untested Hostetler came off the bench in December 1990. But he managed to shred a solid Bears D, upset Joe Montana, and shock the Bills to lift the Lombardi trophy. Had his career not essentially started until he was 29, or if he had stayed healthier following that Super Bowl season, perhaps we would have seen even more out of the mustachioed man. As it was, Jeff Hostetler had a brilliantly consistent career.
Chart
| Season | W-L% | Tot Y/G | Tot TD/G | Tot TO/G | Y/C/Y/A | Cmp % | TD% | Int% |
| Reg Season | 0.064 | -0.057 | -0.028 | 0.097 | 0.007 | 0.027 | 0.002 | 0.067 |
| Playoffs | 0.168 | -0.035 | 0.039 | 0.312 | 0.237 | 0.125 | 0206 | 0.400 |
Longevity Bonus = 0.2 Title Bonus = 0.6
Index Score = 2.404 (average QB = 0.0)
Deviation Rank (out of 155)
| Season | W-L% | Tot Y/G | Tot TD/G | Tot TO/G | Y/C/Y/A | Cmp % | TD% | Int% |
| Reg Season | 35th | 126th | 103rd | 33rd | 84th | 60th | 92nd | 39th |
| Playoffs | T-5th | 88th | 37th | 2nd | 8th | 16th | 12th | T-1st |
Why is he on the Top 1-0 list?
As he only started 83 regular season games, Jeff Hostetler’s share of postseason games (five) has a larger impact on his index score than most. That’s important because Hostetler was quietly one of the best postseason performers in NFL quarterbacking history. He’s in the Top 10 in four of eight playoff categories, and in the Top 20 in six of them. He’s tied for the best-ever interception ratio deviation as he did not throw a single playoff pick in five efforts (the next-best is Blake Bortles with three games). He’s also second in total turnovers in the playoffs, solely trailing Bill Kenney who played only one game, fumbling just twice in those five games. He also makes the list in terms of Top 10 in playoff win-loss rate (4-1 record), and in average of yards/completion + yards/attempt average. He was no slouch during the regular season either. He’s 35th in win-loss deviation, 33rd in total turnovers per game, and 39th in fewest INTs per attempt. Again, consistent.
Why isn’t he higher on the list?
Hostetler falls outside the Top 100 in two regular season categories: total TDs per game (103rd) and total yards per game (126th) during the regular season. He also finished outside the Top 80 in yards/completion + yards/attempt average and touchdown ratio. Lastly, his limited number of seasons as primary starter gives him only a slight bump (0.2) to his index score.
The Quarterback Project 