Pittsburgh Steelers RB Merril Hoge was a key piece for the Steelers in the early 1990s, but he thought they wanted nothing to do with him ahead of the 1987 NFL Draft. During an appearance on the Like A Farmer podcast, Hoge detailed how only five teams met with him at Idaho State after a poor Combine, with the Steelers being one of them. Pittsburgh was the only team that didn’t work him out, leading him to believe they weren’t interested.
Hoge got the flu before the Combine, which impacted his performance and led him to believe no one would draft him.
“So I get out of the Combine, I’m like ain’t nobody drafting me after that display. Now Denver, the Raiders, Green Bay, Washington and the Pittsburgh Steelers did come back to Idaho State and re-worked me out. Only one team didn’t work me out. They only asked me if I played basketball and they talked to me about my basketball. It was the Pittsburgh Steelers,” Hoge said.
“I go, ‘Do you need me to work out?’ He goes, ‘Nah, I got everything I need here watching tape. I don’t need anything. Just wanted to meet you. Thanks for coming by.’ So I shut the door. In my head, I’m like, ‘Ok, that team ain’t interested in me. They want nothing to do with me. I don’t really worry about them drafting me.'”
Obviously, that wasn’t the case. The Steelers took Hoge in the 10th round in the ’87 draft and he went on to play seven years and 109 games with the Steelers. They had enough tape that they didn’t need to waste their time watching Hoge work out when they had their mind made up after seeing him go up against real competition.
The Steelers also obviously weren’t concerned with Hoge’s Combine performance that he thought would doom him. Hoge isn’t a fan of the idea of the Combine for evaluating players, and his case is one that shows that the event doesn’t always have merit in judging players. It’s certainly useful, but Hoge isn’t totally wrong in his belief that it’s an “athletic event” and not a football event.
Pittsburgh made a wise investment in Hoge. It’s rare that a player drafted so late would become a contributor, but Hoge was a solid player for the Steelers and a great receiving back while also running for 3,115 yards in his Steelers career. It’s a good story about trusting what the team saw on tape and not putting too much stock in anything else and getting a talented player.
