Melvin Hoover (born September 21, 1959) 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 with ...

wide receiver who played in the

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 ...

(NFL).

Early life and high school

Hoover was born and grew up in

Charlotte, North Carolina Charlotte ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Located in the Piedmont region, it is the county seat of Mecklenburg County. The population was 874,579 at the 2020 census, making Charlotte the 16th-most populo ...

and attended

North Mecklenburg High School North Mecklenburg High School is a high school in Huntersville, North Carolina. The school mascot is the Viking, and the school colors are royal blue, red, and white. Founded in 1951, the school was integrated during the 1960s. The principal is ...

, where he played basketball and football.

College career

Hoover was a member of the

Arizona State Sun Devils The Arizona State Sun Devils are the athletic teams that represent Arizona State University. ASU has nine men's and eleven women's varsity teams competing at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I level as a member o ...

for four seasons. He was the team's leading kick returner as a freshman and as a sophomore and was named Arizona State's most improved player as a junior.

Professional career

Hoover was drafted in the sixth round of the

1981 NFL Draft The 1981 NFL draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The draft was held April 28–29, 1981, at the New York She ...

by the

New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. ...

, but was cut during training camp. Hoover was signed by the

Philadelphia Eagles The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia. The Eagles compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. The team plays ...

on May 18, 1982 and played three seasons with the team. Hoover was cut during the 1985 preseason after he was unable to agree a new contract with Eagles new owner

Norman Braman Norman Braman (born August 23, 1932) is an American billionaire car dealer, art collector, and former owner of the Philadelphia Eagles. Early life and education Braman was born in 1932 in West Chester, Pennsylvania, and grew up in the Cobbs Cre ...

. Hoover did not play during the 1985 and 1986 seasons but was signed by the

Detroit Lions The Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit. The Lions compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) North Division. The team play their home games at Ford ...

as a

replacement player In professional sports, a replacement player is an athlete who is not a member of the league's players association and plays during a labor dispute such as a strike or lockout, serving as a strikebreaker. Instances of replacement players Nation ...

during the

1987 NFL players strike The National Football League Players Association, or NFLPA, is a labor union representing National Football League (NFL) players. The NFLPA, which has headquarters in Washington, D.C., is led by president J. C. Tretter and executive director De ...

, playing in two games and was released when the strike ended. Hoover finished his NFL career with 16 receptions for 364 yards and two touchdowns in 34 games played.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hoover, Melvin 1957 births Living people American football wide receivers Arizona State Sun Devils football players Players of American football from Charlotte, North Carolina Philadelphia Eagles players New York Giants players Detroit Lions players National Football League replacement players