Christopher James Hovan (born May 12, 1978) 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 ...

player who was a

defensive 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 ...

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 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 ...

Boston College Boston College (BC) is a private university, private Catholic Jesuits, Jesuit research university in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1863 by the Society of Jesus, a Catholic Religious order (Catholic), religious order, t ...

. He was selected by the

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

in the first round of the

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 Theat ...

and played for that team from 2000 to 2004. Hovan then played for the

Tampa Bay Buccaneers The Tampa Bay Buccaneers (colloquially known as the Bucs) are a professional American football team based in Tampa, Florida. The Buccaneers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC S ...

from 2005 to 2009. He was also a member of the

St. Louis Rams The St. Louis Rams were a professional American football team of the National Football League (NFL). They played in St. Louis, Missouri, from 1995 through the 2015 season, before moving back to Los Angeles, California, where the team had played ...

in 2010 but spent the entire season on injured reserve.

Early life

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 (Ohio), Rocky River that for ...

, a suburb of

Cleveland Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located along the southern shore of Lake Erie, it is situated across the Canada–U.S. maritime border and approximately west of the Ohio-Pennsylvania st ...

. He is the youngest of three children. He played

high school football High school football, also known as prep football, is gridiron football played by High school (North America), high school teams in the United States and Canada. It ranks among the most popular high school sports, interscholastic sports in both c ...

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

All-American The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed on outstanding athletes in the United States who are considered to be among the best athletes in their respective sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an Al ...

USA Today ''USA Today'' (often stylized in all caps) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth in 1980 and launched on September 14, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headq ...

and All-City and All-State by ''

The Plain Dealer ''The Plain Dealer'' is the major newspaper of Cleveland, Ohio; it is a major national newspaper. In the fall of 2019, it ranked 23rd in U.S. newspaper circulation, a significant drop since March 2013, when its circulation ranked 17th daily an ...

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

lacrosse Lacrosse is a contact 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 w ...

, earning All-State recognition.

College career

Hovan played college football at Boston College. As a senior, he was an

and 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 Lombard ...

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

Big East The Big East Conference (stylized as BIG EAST) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference that competes in National Collegiate Athletic Association, NCAA NCAA Division I, Division I in 10 men's sports and 12 women's sports. H ...

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 The National Football Conference – Southern Division or NFC South is one of the four Division (sport), divisions of the National Football Conference (NFC) in the National Football League (NFL). It was created before the 2002 NFL season when th ...

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

. On August 6, 2010, Hovan was placed on injured reserve due to a back injury, ending his 2010 season.

NFL statistics

Coaching career

Hovan was named assistant strength & conditioning coach for the South Florida Bulls 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 disbanded twice and been re-established thrice. The Alouettes compe ...

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 ...

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

Legal issues

On April 28, 2015, Hovan was charged with fleeing the scene of a crash. A month later he was charged with a DUI in Hillsborough County. In December 2018 Hovan was charged with domestic abuse against his wife. This charge led to him being court ordered to stay away from his family, house, and any of his children's sports events. On November 31, 2020, Hovan was arrested and booked for another DUI this time with his son in the passenger seat. He reportedly had a BAC of .31 which is almost four times higher than Florida's .08 limit. Additionally, in 2021 Hovan received a Risk Protection Order, which he was initially not compliant with.

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 South Florida Bulls football coaches Montreal Alouettes coaches Coaches of American football from Ohio High school football coaches in Florida