Victor Brian Hobson (born February 3, 1980) 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 ...

linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and the defensive linemen. They are the "middle ground" of defenders, p ...

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) and an

executive producer Executive producer (EP) is one of the top positions in the making of a commercial entertainment product. Depending on the medium, the executive producer may be concerned with management accounting or associated with legal issues (like copyrights o ...

for Global Entertainment. He was drafted in the second round of the

2003 NFL Draft The 2003 NFL draft was the procedure by which National Football League (NFL) teams selected amateur college football players. The draft is known officially as the "NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting" and has been conducted annually since 1936 NF ...

by the

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

, for whom he played from 2003 to 2007. He played for 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 club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The c ...

and

Arizona Cardinals The Arizona Cardinals are a professional American football team based in the Phoenix metropolitan area. The Cardinals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) West division, and play t ...

of the NFL In 2008. Hobson played

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

at the

University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

Early life

Hobson was born in

Mount Laurel, New Jersey Mount Laurel is a township in Burlington County in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is a suburb of Philadelphia and part of the South Jersey region. As of the 2010 U.S. census, the township's population was 41,864, reflecting an increase of 1 ...

, where he grew up for most of his life. He commuted from

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

for 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, part ...

career at St. Joseph's Preparatory. His coach saw that Hobson had large hands and feet to accompany his awkward walk and thin 6-2 frame and thus was nicknamed "Little Pup." At the end of his sophomore year he had grown to a 215-pound frame, meriting the nickname "Big Dog." At St. Joe's he started at both middle linebacker and tight end. In 1997, he led the St. Joe's prep football team to their first championship in 20 years and was voted the Catholic League best all-around player. Among almost 40 division I football offers he chose to attend his lifetime favorite school, the University of Michigan.

Football career

College

At the

, Hobson started 39 of 49 games for the

Wolverines The wolverine (), (''Gulo gulo''; ''Gulo'' is Latin for " glutton"), also referred to as the glutton, carcajou, or quickhatch (from East Cree, ''kwiihkwahaacheew''), is the largest land-dwelling species of the family Mustelidae. It is a muscul ...

, registering 277 tackles, 15 sacks, 3 fumble recoveries, 4 forced fumbles, 6 passes defensed, and 2 interceptions. His 47 stops for losses placed him third all time in Michigan history behind

Curtis Greer Curtis Greer (born November 10, 1957) is a former American football player. He played college football as a defensive tackle for the University of Michigan from 1976 to 1979. He was selected by the St. Louis Cardinals in the first round (six ...

and

Mark Messner Mark W. Messner (born December 29, 1965) is a former American football player who played in the National Football League (NFL) as a linebacker for the Los Angeles Rams during the 1989 NFL season. He sustained a serious knee injury in the 1989-90 ...

. He was named the 2000 winner of The

Roger Zatkoff Roger Zatkoff (March 25, 1931 – November 4, 2021) was an American professional football player and businessman. A native of Hamtramck, Michigan, Zatkoff played college football for the Michigan Wolverines from 1950 to 1952 and was selected as ...

Award as the team's best linebacker. He entered the

NFL draft The National Football League Draft, also called the NFL Draft or (officially) the Player Selection Meeting, is an annual event which serves as the league's most common source of player recruitment. Each team is given a position in the drafting o ...

after his senior year at Michigan.

NFL

After the

NFL scouting combine The NFL Scouting Combine is a week-long showcase occurring every February at Lucas Oil Stadium (and formerly at the RCA Dome until 2008) in Indianapolis, where college football players perform physical and mental tests in front of National Footb ...

listed him as the number 2 out of 34 linebacker prospects, he was drafted 53rd overall in the second round by the New York Jets, joining his fellow Michigan teammate

B. J. Askew Bobby DeAngelo Askew Jr. (born August 19, 1980) is a former American football fullback. He played college football as the University of Michigan. He ranks first all-time among Michigan running backs in reception yards. Askew was selected in t ...

(fullback), also drafted by the Jets in 2003. Hobson lasted five seasons in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. In 2006, he registered a career high 100 tackles on 66 solo tackles and 34 assisted tackles and 6 sacks.

NFL statistics

Philanthropy

In 2006 Hobson and his wife L’Tesia started the Hobson & Hobson outreach in spring of 2006. They have pledged millions to set up homes abroad including the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

for children and adults with special needs.

Film entertainment

Hobson works at Global entertainment, founded in 2010, where he acts as a writer, producer, and director. He was the Executive Producer for the film “C’mon Man”, released on June 26, 2012. Hobson and his wife continued to work on multiple motion pictures.

Personal life

Hobson and his wife, director and film Producer L'tesia Asensio Hobson, reside in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

and

Beverly Hills Beverly Hills is a city located in Los Angeles County, California. A notable and historic suburb of Greater Los Angeles, it is in a wealthy area immediately southwest of the Hollywood Hills, approximately northwest of downtown Los Angeles. Bev ...

. They have seven children.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hobson, Victor 1980 births Living people American football linebackers Arizona Cardinals players Cincinnati Bengals players Michigan Wolverines football players New England Patriots players New York Jets players People from Mount Laurel, New Jersey African-American players of American football St. Joseph's Preparatory School alumni 21st-century African-American sportspeople 20th-century African-American people