Gary Hogeboom

Gary Keith Hogeboom (born August 21, 1958) is a former American football quarterback in the National Football League and a contestant on the CBS reality TV show Survivor: Guatemala.

Career
Hogeboom reached the spotlight playing for the Dallas Cowboys, Indianapolis Colts, Phoenix Cardinals, and Washington Redskins after playing college football at the Central Michigan University and high school football at Northview High School in Grand Rapids, Michigan. He played for ten seasons (1980–1989) and passed for 9,346 yards, 49 touchdowns, and 60 interceptions in his career, along with 164 rushing yards and four touchdowns on the ground. He also had career highs in 1989 with the Phoenix Cardinals with 2,591 yards passing, 14 touchdowns, and 19 interceptions. His only appearance in the postseason was in the Cowboys' 1982 NFC title game against the Washington Redskins. Filling in for the injured Danny White, he threw for 162 yards and two touchdowns, with two interceptions, in Dallas's 31-17 loss. In 1987, as a member of the Indianapolis Colts, Hogeboom was one of the few regular players in the NFL who did not participate in that year's player strike. He took the field along with replacement players, who were recruited to continue the league's schedule during the strike. The Colts' victories in those games were crucial in securing their first playoff berth in ten years.

Dallas Cowboys
Hogeboom was drafted by the Cowboys in the 1980 NFL Draft, and by 1982 had moved past Glenn Carano for the #2 quarterback spot behind Danny White. He began to garner attention from Cowboys fans and players alike with his performance in the 1982 NFC title game. With the score 24-17 in the fourth quarter, the Cowboys were geared to start a drive to possibly tie the game when Hogeboom had a pass deflected at the line and intercepted by Darryl Grant, who returned it for the clinching touchdown. The Redskins had dominated the game up to that point, but Hogeboom's performance opened some eyes, including coach Tom Landry's.

Prior to the 1983 season the Cowboy players and fans began to lobby for Hogeboom to be the starting quarterback. Danny White had led the team to three straight NFC title games after taking over for legend Roger Staubach, but couldn't get over the hump to a Super Bowl. The players also felt that White had betrayed them because of his public support for the NFL team owners during the 1982 NFL players strike. Furthermore, White was seen as quiet and standoffish, unlike the more vocal and personable Hogeboom. It also helped Hogeboom's cause being 6'4" and 200 pounds, bigger, and with a stronger arm than White.

White responded to the criticism by having his best statistical season ever in 1983 and leading the Cowboys to a 12-2 record going into a home matchup against the hated Redskins. However, the Cowboys were blown out 31-10 at home. The Redskins would go on to finish 14-2 and reach their second straight Super Bowl, while the Cowboys would be blown out 42-17 the next week by the San Francisco 49ers on Monday Night Football and lose the wildcard playoff game at home against the Los Angeles Rams. The rumblings for White to be benched got stronger as a result.

Landry responded by giving Hogeboom significantly more playing time in the 1984 pre-season and naming him his starter. Hogeboom started out well, throwing for 343 yards in a season opening win on Monday night on national TV against the Rams. However, in the next game against the New York Giants, linebacker Lawrence Taylor sacked him four times and the Cowboys lost, 28-7. Despite the Cowboys 4-1 record, Landry went back to the more experienced White and Hogeboom never started another game for the Cowboy that year.

Indianapolis Colts
On April 28, 1986 Hogeboom was traded to the Indianapolis Colts in exchange for switching positions in the 2nd round of the 1986 NFL Draft. With Indianapolis's 2nd round pick, Dallas drafted Darryl Clack of Arizona State University. With Dallas's 2nd round pick, the Colts drafted Jack Trudeau out of University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign. Mike Pagel had been the starter at quarterback, but he was then traded to the Cleveland Browns for a 9th round pick in the 1987 NFL Draft. With that pick the Colts drafted Bob Ontko from Pennsylvania State University who would go on to play in only three NFL games.

Excitement was high in Indianapolis at Hogeboom's arrival. The franchise had not seen quality QB play since the days of Bert Jones. It was thought that giving head coach Rod Dowhower something to work with would yield great results. Dowhower made his name as the QB coach with the St. Louis Cardinals (NFL) where he coaxed several quality seasons out of Neil Lomax. Rookie Bill Brooks was drafted in the 4th round out of Boston University to provide an additional target for Hogeboom.

1986 Season
The Colts got off to a shaky start losing in New England 33-3. In game two vs the Miami Dolphins, the Colts lost both the game and Gary Hogeboom. Hogeboom was injured when he picked up an Albert Bentley fumble and took off down the sideline. At the end of a 50 yard run he was tackled by Dolphin's safety Lyle Blackwood. On the play Hogeboom had the opportunity to run safely out of bounds, but instead chose to try to run over the hard hitting safety. Blackwood physically picked Hogeboom up and drove him into the ground on his right (throwing) shoulder, causing a serious shoulder separation.

Then Colts General Manager Jim Irsay had this to say of the tackle: "The way it looked on TV, it was a malicious tackle," "If that's the case, I think a player should be suspended. You're talking about knocking out a team's starting quarterback."

Blackwood was never punished and Hogeboom was assumed to be lost for the season.

Rookie Jack Trudeau was handed the starting job and the team struggled through the season with thirteen straight losses. After the last loss, Head Coach Rod Dowhower was fired and former Southern Methodist University and New England Patriots coach Ron Meyer was brought in.

Although Meyer had been previously known as a tough disciplinarian, he seemed to have mellowed some and the team responded to him. Hogeboom surprised everyone by returning as starter for Meyer's first game as the Colts coach. They were matched against the Atlanta Falcons and were a heavy underdog. Hogeboom played a great game and the Colts won it in the end on a blocked punt.

Hogeboom and the Colts shocked the NFL by winning the last three games of their season to finish up at 3-13. Most had expected them to have the worst record in the NFL which would have positioned them to draft University of Miami star Vinny Testaverde with the first pick in the 1987 NFL Draft. With those wins, they improved their record over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers who ended up with Testaverde. As it was, the Colts carried considerable optimism heading into the 1987 NFL season.

1987 season
With a potential player strike looming, the Colts started the 1987 season with two losses. At this point the NFL Players Association chose to call a work stoppage. Hogeboom was one of the handful of players who chose to cross the picket lines and come to work. At issue was specific language in Hogeboom's contract which potentially could have cost him all his remaining salary. Due to this, Hogeboom was forced to turn against his fellow players.

The owners decided to field teams of replacement players to fulfill their obligation to the ticket holders and television networks. Hogeboom led the Colts replacement players to a 2-0 record before being injured in the second game. This injury was caused by veteran defensive end Marty Lyons flagrant spearing of Hogeboom on a QB sneak play, breaking a rib in his back and puncturing a lung. This was the second time in two seasons that Hogeboom was injured by the purposeful actions of an opponent. Despite this, Hogeboom was starting to get a reputation for being injury prone. The Colts lost the last strike game without their starting QB.

After the strike the Colts again started Jack Trudeau at QB. They started out with a win against New England. During the following week, the Colts made a blockbuster trade to get star running back Eric Dickerson. This was a critical move and told the Colts fans that the team was serious about winning.

Trudeau went on to start the first four games after the strike, winning two and losing two. Since Hogeboom's injury had healed, he was re-inserted as the starter at QB. The Colts then beat Dan Marino and the Miami Dolphins only to lose to the New England Patriots. In the next game Hogeboom led the Colts to a rousing home win versus the Houston Oilers. However, Hogeboom was to again be injured in this game.

On a 22 yard touchdown pass to Albert Bentley, Hogeboom was struck on the inside part of his throwing arm by a blitzing Houston defender. This blow drove Hogeboom's arm up in an unnatural way, damaging the shoulder. Hogeboom was done for the season after suffering yet another inexplicable injury.

Jack Trudeau would finish out the season as the starter, taking the Colts to their first playoff game since 1977. They lost their first playoff game against the Cleveland Browns. After being tied with Browns for most of the game the 4th quarter proved to be their undoing, as they were outscored 17-7.

Survivor: Guatemala
In 2005, Hogeboom was a contestant on the CBS reality TV show Survivor: Guatemala. Hogeboom kept his professional sports past a secret and even sneakily claimed his name was Gary Hawkins and was a landscaper, for fear that he would be eliminated right away if the other competitors realized he was a former NFL quarterback and assumed he was already wealthy. Unfortunately for him, his plan failed when another contestant who worked in sports radio (Danni Boatwright) recognized him immediately. In fact, post-show interviews from other contestants revealed that they actually all knew his real identity as Gary Hogeboom and they didn't care because he was a strong, well-liked player. Hogeboom was eliminated on day 30, after saving himself from elimination by using the hidden immunity idol at a previous tribal council; his elimination was unrelated to the issue of his true identity, simply coming down to the powerful alliance of Rafe, Steph, Cindy, Lydia and Judd voting off non-alliance members. After he was voted out, he confessed in his final words that his name was Gary Hogeboom and he was an ex-NFL quarterback. Hogeboom went down in Survivor history as the first person to ever find and play a hidden immunity idol at tribal council.

Personal life
Hogeboom is married with four children. He lives in Grand Haven, MI where he is a private real estate developer. He also coaches the JV Girls basketball team at Grand Haven High School.