Michael Hoecht (; born October 5, 1997) is a Canadian 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 end Defensive end (DE) is a defensive position in the sport of gridiron football. This position has designated the players at each end of the defensive line, but changes in formation (American football), formations over the years have substantially ...

for the

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of 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

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for the

Brown Bears The Brown Bears are the sports teams that represent Brown University, an American university located in Providence, Rhode Island. The Bears are part of the Ivy League conference. Brown's mascot is Bruno. Both the men's and women's teams share th ...

Early life

Hoecht was born in

Oakville, Ontario Oakville is a town and List of municipalities in Ontario#Lower-tier municipalities, lower-tier municipality in Regional Municipality of Halton, Halton Region, Ontario, Canada. Generally seen as a commuter suburb of Toronto, it is located on Lake ...

, and lived in Canada until his family moved to Oakwood, Ohio (a community within

Dayton, Ohio Dayton () is a city in Montgomery County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of cities in Ohio, sixth-most populous city in Ohio, with a population of 137,644 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. The Dayton metro ...

) when he was three years old. His family moved back to Canada for his first two years of high school, where he lived in

Stittsville Stittsville is a suburban community, part of the Canadian capital of Ottawa, Ontario. It is within the former Goulbourn Township. A part of the National Capital Region, Stittsville is immediately to the southwest of Kanata, adjacent to Ric ...

and went to South Carleton High School, then Toronto where he went to (

North Toronto Collegiate Institute North Toronto Collegiate Institute is a semestered, public high school institution with over 1,200 students located in North Toronto area of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The school is operated and governed by the Toronto District School Board. Fro ...

), before returning to Oakwood, Ohio, where he attended Oakwood High School for his final two years of high school.

College career

Hoecht played for the

for four seasons. He was named second-team All-

Ivy League The Ivy League is an American collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference of eight Private university, private Research university, research universities in the Northeastern United States. It participates in the National Collegia ...

as a senior after finishing the season with 42 tackles, nine tackles for a loss, and four sacks. Hoecht finished his collegiate career with 174 tackles, 29.5 tackles for loss, and 16.5 sacks with two forced fumbles and four fumble recoveries in 37 games played.

Statistics

Professional career

Los Angeles Rams

Hoecht was signed by the

Los Angeles Rams The Los Angeles Rams are a professional American football team based in the Greater Los Angeles, Greater Los Angeles area. The Rams compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC West, West ...

as an

undrafted free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player or manager who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under a contract at present ...

following the 2020 NFL draft on April 26, 2020. He was also selected by the

Ottawa Redblacks The Ottawa Redblacks (officially stylized as REDBLACKS) (Canadian French, French: ) are a professional Canadian football team based in Ottawa, Ontario. The team plays in the East Division (CFL), East Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL ...

in the second round of the 2020 CFL Draft. Hoecht was waived by the Rams on September 4, 2020, during final roster cuts, and was subsequently signed to the team's

practice squad In gridiron football, the practice squad, also called the taxi squad or practice roster, is a group of players signed by a team but not part of their main roster. They serve as extra players during the team's practices, often as part of the scou ...

one day later where he spent his first season. In his second year, Hoecht signed a reserve/futures contract with the team on January 18, 2021. Hoecht made the Rams' 53-man roster out of training camp to start the 2021 season. Hoecht played in all 17 regular season games that year with three starts and had seven tackles. In that year, he also played in all four of the Rams' postseason games, including the team's 23–20 win over the

Cincinnati Bengals The Cincinnati Bengals are a professional American football team based in Cincinnati. The Bengals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The team plays its h ...

Super Bowl LVI Super Bowl LVI was an American football game played to determine the champion of the National Football League (NFL) for the 2021 NFL season, 2021 season. The National Football Conference (NFC) champion 2021 Los Angeles Rams season, Los Angeles ...

. For the entire 2022 season, Hoecht was on the Rams’ active roster. Midway through the season the Rams moved Hoecht’s position from

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 ...

outside linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and typically line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and so back up the defensive linemen. They play closer to the lin ...

. As a starter in the final seven games, Hoecht produced 34 tackles, 4 tackles for loss, and 8 quarterback hits. On March 15, 2023, the Rams tendered Hoecht as an exclusive rights free agent for the 2023 season which he signed a week later. Hoecht went on to start every game of the 2023 season opposite rookie Byron Young, logging 6 sacks, 81 tackles, a forced fumble, 7 tackles for loss and 11 quarterback hits. He helped the Rams clinch a playoff berth and produced half a sack and 2 quarterback hits in their 23-24 loss to the Detroit Lions in the Wildcard Round.

Buffalo Bills

On March 14, 2025, Hoecht signed a three-year, $21 million contract with the

. However, after signing with the Bills, Hoecht was suspended for the first six games of the 2025 season for violating the NFL's PED policy.

References

External links

Buffalo Bills bio

Brown Bears bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hoecht, Michael 1997 births Living people American football defensive tackles Los Angeles Rams players Players of American football from Ohio Brown Bears football players Players of American football from Ontario American football linebackers American people of German descent Buffalo Bills players