Speakers Bio

Merril DuAine Hoge (born January 26, 1965 in Pocatello, Idaho) is a former professional football player. He played eight seasons at running back for the NFL's Pittsburgh Steelers and Chicago Bears, retiring after the 1994 season. He is currently a football analyst for ESPN television.

College career

Hoge graduated from Highland High School in Pocatello in 1983. He stayed in town for college and was a four-year starter as a 6'3" running back on the Idaho State football team. Hoge set 44 ISU and Big Sky conference records (22 of them still intact), and still holds two NCAA records. He is a member of the ISU Hall of Fame and his ISU Bengals jersey has been retired. He graduated with a degree in Education and a minor in Health and Fitness.

Pro career

The Pittsburgh Steelers selected Hoge in the tenth round of 1987 NFL Draft with the 261st pick overall. He became a key member of the offense and led the team in rushing and receiving in four of his seven years. He is one of only two Steelers to rush for more than 100 yards in back-to-back playoff games (the other was Franco Harris). Hoge was named the Steelers' Man of the Year in 1989 & 1990, and was named to the All-Madden team in 1989.

After seven seasons with the Steelers, Hoge signed with the Chicago Bears as a free agent in 1994, but played in just five games with only six carries and 13 receptions. He retired after suffering a series of concussions. He gained 3139 rushing yards and 2133 receiving yards, along with 34 touchdowns, playing fullback for the Steelers two-back offense.

Broadcasting career

Merril Hoge is currently a television commentator for ESPN. Hoge joined ESPN in 1996 as a game analyst and sideline reporter for ESPN2’s coverage of college football. He has since become an analyst for a wide variety of NFL programs for ESPN. These include ESPN2's NFL Live; NFL Match-Up; ESPNEWS' Football Friday; the NFL Draft; and The NFL on ESPN Radio. Hoge also occasionally provides reports for Sunday NFL Countdown.

In 2007, he began doing play-by-play broadcasts for ESPN2's coverage of AFL arena football. He teams with color commentator Mark Schlereth on the broadcasts.

Controversy

Hoge has drawn ire from some fans and critics for his tireless criticism of Titans quarterback Vince Young, Matt Leinart, Randy Moss, the Cleveland Browns, New England Patriots, and the Philadelphia Eagles.

Battle with Cancer

On February 14, 2003, Merril was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin lymphoma-cancer. Chemotherapy treatments began soon after, and went on for five months. Finally, on July 2, 2003, after completing the chemotherapy, Merril was cancer-free.