National Football Foundation

A two-year starting quarterback at West Virginia under College Football Hall of Fame head coach Don Nehlen, Jeff Hostetler helped the Mountaineers to an 18-6 record and two bowl appearances.  A co-captain of the 1983 squad, he threw two touchdown passes in a 20-16 win over Kentucky in the 1983 Hall of Fame Bowl. Hostetler succeeded 1981 NFF National Scholar-Athlete Oliver Luck as WVU’s signal caller and quickly engraved his name in the program’s record book. He ranks second in school history in interception avoidance (.0279); eighth in single-season passing yards (2,345); ninth in single-season completions and attempts (173-of-309); 10^th in single-season passing touchdowns (16) and career pass attempts (601); 11^th in career total offense (4,393), career completions (310) and career passing yards (4,261); 12^th in career pass efficiency (120.09); 13^th in single-season total offense (2,416) and career touchdown passes (26); and 14^th in single-season total-touchdowns (19).

A First Team Academic All-American, Hostetler was a member of the Business Honorary Society and maintained a perfect 4.0 GPA. He received the Red Brown Award as the school’s top scholar-athlete. Hostetler served as president of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes and was active in community and campus charities.

Hostetler was selected in the third round (59^th overall) of the 1984 NFL Draft by the New York Giants and spent nine seasons with the Giants, winning Super Bowl rings in 1986 and 1990. Serving as the primary starter in his final two seasons, he completed 365-of-632 passes for 4,409 yards and 20 touchdowns in his time in New York. Hostetler led the Giants past the favored Bills in Super Bowl XXV completing 20 of 32 passes for 222 yards and a touchdown. In 2008, ESPN ranked Hostetler's performance No. 30 for the best quarterback performances in Super Bowl history. He signed with the Los Angeles Raiders to be their starter in 1993 and earned Pro Bowl honors in 1994 after throwing for 3,334 yards and 20 touchdowns. After two more seasons with the Raiders, Hostetler spent his final two seasons with the Washington Redskins. He finished his NFL career with 1,357-of-2,338 passes completed for 16,430 yards and 94 touchdowns.

In 1998, Hostetler was inducted into the West Virginia Sports Hall of Fame. He currently lives in Morgantown, W.Va., and operates a construction company and the Hoss Foundation, a non-profit organization established to help meet the needs of children and/or families facing hardships due to traumatic injury, illness or financial crisis.