Hoying in select company in Hall of Fame

COLUMBUS - Even though Ohio State shunned the passing game during Woody Hayes' long coaching career, Bob Hoying was surprised to learn how few quarterbacks had preceded him into OSU's Athletic Hall of Fame.

The St. Henry High School graduate is one of 12 former athletes being inducted into the Hall of Fame tonight. They also will be introduced at halftime of Saturday's Ohio State-Ohio University football game.

"It's not something you think about when you're 35," he said, about joining the Hall of Fame.

"When I started finding out more about it, that there are only two other true quarterbacks in the Hall of Fame, to be in their company and to be really the first modern-day sort of quarterback to go in is a tremendous honor."

Hoying was a three-year starter at Ohio State. He is Ohio State's career leader in touchdown passes (57) and ranks second on the career list in passing yards (7,232), passing yards in a season (3,269) and touchdown passes in a season (29).

His 1995 season - when he completed 61 percent of his passes for 3,269 yards and 29 TDs -helped Ohio State set team season records that still stand for points scored and yards gained.

The only Ohio State players who spent their entire careers at quarterback voted into the Hall of Fame before him were Cornelius Greene in 1998 and Rex Kern in 1978.

Hoying remembers many big moments in Ohio Stadium, like his electrifying 82-yard touchdown pass to Terry Glenn during a win over Notre Dame in 1995 and beating Michigan in 1994.

Being introduced as a Hall of Famer "ranks right up there" on his list of best days at the stadium, he said.

"From a football perspective, outside of being voted a captain by my teammates my senior year, it's probably the most important award for me personally that I ever will receive," Hoying said.

He arrived at Ohio State in 1991 after helping St. Henry win a state football title and two state basketball titles.

After a redshirt year and backing up Kirk Herbstreit the next year, he was named the starter in 1993. He shared time with Bret Powers in 1993, but had the position to himself the next two years.

Ohio State was 30-7-1 in Hoying's three seasons as a starter.

Talent around him was a constant in those years. He had players like Eddie George, Terry Glenn, Rickey Dudley, Joey Galloway, Orlando Pace and Korey Stringer with him for all or part of his career.

"The guys I played with, I'd put them up against any of the teams that have ever played on the offensive side of the ball at Ohio State," Hoying said.

Another element in his success was the arrival of Walt Harris as Ohio State's quarterbacks coach before his senior season.

"He was a huge influence. While we didn't totally revamp our offense, he brought in enough of the West Coast offense to complement what we were already doing," Hoying said.

The Philadelphia Eagles selected Hoying in the third round of the 1996 NFL draft. He played three years with the Eagles, two of them as the starting quarterback, then went to the Oakland Raiders for two seasons before an elbow injury ended his career.

For the last six years, he has been an owner of Crawford-Hoying-Smith, a commercial real estate company in Columbus.

"I was ready for a change, I was ready to try something new," Hoying said.

"I started getting into real estate in 1998 when we bought our first apartment complex. Every year, I got more and more involved with my business partner, Brent Crawford, and what we were doing in the real estate field. It's really kind of gotten a lot bigger than I ever anticipated," he said.

Hoying and his wife, Jill, have three children - Jake, Ava, and Layla - whose ages range from six years to six months.