Christopher L. Hoke (born April 6, 1976) is an American former professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

defensive lineman In gridiron football, a lineman is a player who specializes in play at the line of scrimmage. The linemen of the team currently in possession of the ball are the offensive line (OL), while linemen on the opposing team are the defensive line (D ...

in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

(NFL). He spent his entire eleven-year professional career with the

Pittsburgh Steelers The Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional American football team based in Pittsburgh. The Steelers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. Founded in 1933 P ...

Early life

Hoke attended Foothill High School in

Santa Ana, California Santa Ana (Spanish language, Spanish for ) is a city in and the county seat of Orange County, California, United States. Located in the Greater Los Angeles region of Southern California, the city's population was 310,227 at the 2020 census. As ...

, and won three varsity letters each in football and track and field. In football, he was a three-time All-League honoree, a two-time All-CIF honoree, and a two-time All-County honoree. As a senior, he was also named the League Defensive Player of the Year and helped lead his team to the CIF quarterfinals. In track and field, he was a three-time League Champion, and a three-time CIF Meet participant. Hoke graduated from Foothill High School in 1994.

College career

Hoke's college career was put on hold for a 2-year mission for

the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a Nontrinitarianism, nontrinitarian Restorationism, restorationist Christianity, Christian Christian denomination, denomination and the ...

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

and

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

. Hoke played

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

Brigham Young University Brigham Young University (BYU) is a Private education, private research university in Provo, Utah, United States. It was founded in 1875 by religious leader Brigham Young and is the flagship university of the Church Educational System sponsore ...

, where he finished his collegiate career with 141 tackles and 14 sacks. He majored in communications.

Professional career

Hoke was signed by the

as an undrafted free agent after the

2001 NFL draft The 2001 NFL draft was the 66th draft annual of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible professional football players. The draft, which is officially referred to as the "NFL Player Selection Meeting", was held at the Th ...

. For the first three years of his Steelers career, he was inactive for the majority of time and did not get any playing time. In 2004, Hoke totaled 24 tackles and 1 sack after taking over the starting

nose tackle A defensive tackle (DT) is a position in American football that typically lines up on the line of scrimmage, opposite one of the Guard (American football), offensive guards; however, he may also line up opposite one of the offensive Tackle (gridir ...

position for the injured

Casey Hampton Casey Hampton Jr. (born September 3, 1977) is an American former professional football player who was a five-time Pro Bowl nose tackle and two-time Super Bowl champion over twelve seasons with the Pittsburgh Steelers of the National Football Le ...

six games into the season. In 2005, he recorded six tackles and was also part of the Steelers team that won

Super Bowl XL Super Bowl XL was an American football game between the National Football Conference (NFC) champion 2005 Seattle Seahawks season, Seattle Seahawks and the American Football Conference (AFC) champion 2005 Pittsburgh Steelers season, Pittsburgh S ...

where he also recorded a tackle. The following season, he played in all 16 games and finished the season with 12 tackles. On June 21, 2007, he signed a 3-year extension through 2010. He finished the 2007 season with six tackles and 0.5 sacks. Hoke started his first game of the 2008 season in Pittsburgh's

Monday Night Football ''Monday Night Football'' (often abbreviated as ''MNF'') is the branding used for broadcasts of National Football League (NFL) games that air on Monday nights. It originally ran on American Broadcasting Company, ABC from 1970 NFL season, 1970 t ...

game against the Ravens, in Week Four of the 2008 season. Hoke announced his retirement on January 25, 2012. He spent his entire 11-year professional career with the Pittsburgh Steelers.

NFL career statistics

Regular season

Playoffs

Broadcasting career

In 2015, Hoke replaced fellow ex-lineman Edmund Nelson as the Steelers post-game analyst on

KDKA-TV KDKA-TV (channel 2), branded CBS Pittsburgh, is a television station in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. It is owned and operated by the CBS television network through its CBS News and Stations division alongside WPKD-TV (channel 19), a ...

.Former Steelers Charlie Batch and Chris Hoke join KDKA-TV broadcasts
Steelers.com (05/05/2015)

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hoke, Chris 1976 births American football defensive tackles BYU Cougars football players Living people Pittsburgh Steelers players Players of American football from Long Beach, California Latter Day Saints from California American Mormon missionaries in Belgium American Mormon missionaries in France