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University of Minnesota Athletics
BTN Courage Award Goes to Hoese
6/21/2011 12:00:00 AM | Football
Just days prior to last year's season-opening football game at Middle Tennessee State University, then-senior fullback Jon Hoese got a phone call that nobody wants to receive. His father Terry had suffered a massive stroke.
With his father in a medically-induced coma, Hoese decided his father would want him to play. His performance against the Blue Raiders was named the Most Courageous Performance of the Year by the Big Ten Network on its annual Awards Show Monday night.
Tragically, Terry passed away just four days later.
Below is the story recounting Hoese's performance in that game that ran here on GopherSports.com, a link to the video from Monday night's Awards Show is listed above.
Emotional Night for Hoese, Gophers
(Sept. 2, 2010) Earlier this week, senior fullback Jon Hoese didn't even know if he was going to play in Thursday night's season-opener at Middle Tennessee State. His father Terry suffered a stroke one week prior to the game.
Hoese missed practice early in the week. But eventually, he started to think his father would want him to play. Terry, who was in a medically-induced coma, would have been very proud of his son's performance in the Gophers' victory. Jon scored all three of Minnesota's touchdowns, rushed eight times for 26 yards and even recovered a fumble on the kickoff following Minnesota's go-ahead score late in the fourth quarter to preserve the victory.
Following the game, Hoese was awarded the game ball by head coach Tim Brewster, who said Hoese would be giving the ball to his father. Hoese's teammates chanted his name, patted him on the back, high-fived him and hugged him. Finally, with the entire team chanting his name, they lifted him on their shoulders. It was a very emotional scene in the Gopher locker room.
"What happened tonight with the team rallying around and giving me the game ball for my Dad, that's something special to me and my family," Hoese said. "Adversity hit my family last week and these guys on this team - players, coaches - have been nothing but supportive for me and my family. Things have been tough and I can't say enough good things about them."
"The story of the game is Jon Hoese," Brewster said. "It's a story about a kid whose dad is gravely ill, and he played his heart out for his father tonight. He scored three touchdowns, and we gave him the game ball. That game ball is going to go to Terry Hoese. That's the storyline tonight, celebrating the love a son has for his father and the love a father has for his son."
Duane Bennett rushed for 187 yards and was perhaps the most valuable player in the contest for Minnesota. But Bennett also only wanted to talk about his backfield mate Hoese after the game.
"The biggest thing - to be honest with you - that was going through my head throughout the game was being able to be there for a brother," Bennett said of Hoese. "For what Jon Hoese's been going through, I just tried to put an emphasis on creating as many plays as I could to make sure we get Jon Hoese the game ball."
Hoese's teammates were very impressed with the way Hoese was able to perform under the circumstances.
"For him to come out through family adversity and still come out and help his football family, it shows the character he has," Bennett said. "He's a great guy. He really showed up today. His family is still in our prayers and we'll hope for the best."
"Jon Hoese is my brother," said offensive lineman Jeff Wills. "He was my roommate when I first got here. I would want to do anything I can to help him out. He had a great game. He had three touchdowns and blocked his butt off. He had a great game. He's a great kid. I love him to death."
In typical Jon Hoese fashion, he gave credit to those around him for his success Thursday night.
"It looks good," Hoese said of his statistics. "But at the same time, it was as a result of this team. Look at Duane Bennett. He had 187 yards tonight. That's something else. That's very impressive. Yeah, I got those touchdowns, but it was the result of a team effort. Without those guys, I wouldn't have been able to do what I did. Hats off to those guys."
-By Andy Seeley, Associate Athletic Communications Director
