Christopher James Hovan (born May 12, 1978) is a former

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team wit ...

defensive tackle. He played college football at

Boston College Boston College (BC) is a private Jesuit research university in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts. Founded in 1863, the university has more than 9,300 full-time undergraduates and nearly 5,000 graduate students. Although Boston College is classifi ...

, and was a

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ma ...

(NFL) defensive tackle from 2000 to 2010. He was drafted by the

Minnesota Vikings The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) North division. Founded in 1960 as an expansio ...

in the first round of

2000 NFL Draft The 2000 NFL Draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur U.S. college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The draft was held April 15– 16, 2000, at the Th ...

. Hovan also played for the

Tampa Bay Buccaneers The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are a professional American football team based in Tampa, Florida. The Buccaneers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South divisio ...

and St. Louis Rams.

Early years

Hovan grew up in

Rocky River, Ohio Rocky River is a city in western Cuyahoga County, Ohio, United States. A suburb of Cleveland, it is located along the shore of Lake Erie approximately west of downtown Cleveland. The city is named for the Rocky River that forms its eastern b ...

, a suburb of

Cleveland Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U ...

. played his

high school football High school football (french: football au lycée) is gridiron football played by high school teams in the United States and Canada. It ranks among the most popular interscholastic sports in both countries, but its popularity is declining, partl ...

at St. Ignatius High School in Cleveland. During his career he earned many honors and awards including an honorable mention All-American by

USA Today ''USA Today'' (stylized in all uppercase) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth on September 15, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headquarters in Tysons, Virg ...

, and All-City and All-State by ''

The Plain Dealer ''The Plain Dealer'' is the major newspaper of Cleveland, Ohio, United States. In fall 2019, it ranked 23rd in U.S. newspaper circulation, a significant drop since March 2013, when its circulation ranked 17th daily and 15th on Sunday. As of Ma ...

''. He finished his high school career with a school record 28 career sacks. He also played

lacrosse Lacrosse is a team sport played with a lacrosse stick and a lacrosse ball. It is the oldest organized sport in North America, with its origins with the indigenous people of North America as early as the 12th century. The game was extensi ...

, earning All-State recognition.

College career

Hovan played his college football at

. As a senior, he was an All-American and was a semi-finalist for the

Lombardi Award The Rotary Lombardi Award is an award for college football in the United States. Awarded by the Rotary Club of Houston, Texas annually to the college football player "who best embodies the values and spirit of NFL's legendary coach Vince Lo ...

. He also became the first player in Boston College history to be named All-

Big East The Big East Conference is a collegiate athletic conference that competes in NCAA Division I in ten men's sports and twelve women's sports. Headquartered in New York City, the eleven full-member schools are primarily located in Northeast and M ...

three times. He finished his career starting 43 of 45 games, recording 20.5 sacks.

Professional career

Minnesota Vikings

Hovan was drafted by the

with the 25th overall pick in the

. He would go on to play five years for the Vikings, playing in 77 games, recording 192 tackles and 17 sacks.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

On April 1, 2005, Hovan signed with the

. He had a good first season with the Bucs, helping them win the NFC South and finish as the number one ranked defense. Hovan was released on April 26, 2010.

St. Louis Rams

On June 9, 2010, Hovan signed with the St. Louis Rams. On August 6, 2010, Hovan was placed on injured reserve due to a back injury, ending his 2010 season.

Coaching

Hovan was named assistant strength & conditioning coach for the

South Florida Bulls The South Florida Bulls (also known as the USF Bulls) are the sport, athletic teams that represent the University of South Florida. USF competes in NCAA Division I and is a member of the American Athletic Conference for all sports besides sai ...

in 2011. Hovan was signed by the

Montreal Alouettes The Montreal Alouettes (Canadian French, French: Les Alouettes de Montréal) are a professional Canadian football team based in Montreal, Quebec. Founded in 1946, the team has folded and been revived twice. The Alouettes compete in the Canadian F ...

of the Canadian Football League as their defensive line coach on January 9, 2013. He was the defensive line coach for the

Tampa Bay Storm The Tampa Bay Storm were a professional arena football team based in Tampa, Florida, US. It played in the Arena Football League (AFL). Originally the team was located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and operated as the Pittsburgh Gladiators. The f ...

of the AFL for the 2013 season. Hovan coached in the AFL with the Tampa Bay Storm for three seasons. From 2017-2018, Hovan was the co-defensive coordinator for the Warriors football team at Steinbrenner High School in Lutz, Florida.

NFL statistics

References

External links

NFL.com statsSt. Louis Rams' bioESPN stats
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hovan, Chris 1978 births Living people People from Rocky River, Ohio Saint Ignatius High School (Cleveland) alumni American football defensive tackles Boston College Eagles football players Minnesota Vikings players Tampa Bay Buccaneers players St. Louis Rams players Tampa Bay Storm coaches Players of American football from Cuyahoga County, Ohio