PRO FOOTBALL ’94 / SEASON PREVIEWS : Getting the Last Laugh : Raider Quarterback Jeff Hostetler Takes Winning--and His Pranks--Seriously

Art Shell got it in an elevator.

Bill Meyers got it in his car.

Howie Long got it at home.

Sooner or later, they all get it, one way or another. Sooner or later, most who work with quarterback Jeff Hostetler get caught on the receiving end of one of his practical jokes.

He’s got standards, mind you: No damage to the body. No damage to personal property. But plenty of damage to one’s peace of mind.

Now all of this might seem strange, coming from Hostetler.

Isn’t he the deeply religious, deadly serious leader of the Raiders?

Isn’t he the man who resolutely rose from the ground time and again last season, no matter how many crushing blows he had suffered, and hobbled back to the huddle, waving off concerned trainers and coaches, determined to persevere and win a football game?

Isn’t he the New York transplant who came west to escape the persecution of rabid Giant fans?

With all that in mind, Hostetler doesn’t strike you as a man who secretly harbors a desire to put on a big red nose and squirt water from a flower in his lapel.

And he isn’t. He is more subtle than that. But equally mischievous.

Hostetler learned in high school that practical jokes can serve two purposes on a football team: promote camaraderie and relieve tension.

And there was plenty of tension to be relieved on the Raiders a year ago. The club was coming off a 7-9 season. The emotional scars from the departure of Marcus Allen had not yet healed. And after suffering through a series of erratic quarterbacks, the Raiders weren’t sure Hostetler was the man to put them back on course.

So when he wasn’t throwing touchdown passes, running into the end zone himself or shaking off the effects of yet another sack, Hostetler kept his troops loose and laughing.

There was the night Long, now a Fox commentator, came into his hotel room and found a dead fish in his bed with a note that read, “You’re just a little fish in my pond.”

Hostetler got Shell when the two of them were in a hotel elevator. Hostetler got off at the 11th floor. Shell was going to the 21st. Before departing, Hostetler punched every button from 11 to 21.

Then he was gone, leaving his coach with a long, slow, irritating journey.

“He got me,” said Shell, shaking his head but smiling. The coach, of course, will let Hostetler push all the buttons he wants off the field as long as he continues to push the right ones on the field.

But even in Hostetler’s world of mischief, there are rules. And Meyers broke the one about damaged property.

The offensive line coach cut the toe strap on one of Hostetler’s thongs.

That’s a no-no.

Sure enough, when Meyers came out after a meeting, his vehicle was up on blocks.

Of course, Hostetler does not always enjoy the last laugh.

After a victory last season at the Coliseum, he showered and returned to his locker only to discover his clothes missing. He had to borrow from here and there simply to get home. Long and offensive lineman Steve Wisniewski were thought to be the culprits, but no one was talking.

“There’s a lot of pressure involved in playing,” Hostetler said, “and sometimes you just need some things to break it up and get your mind off it. I think being mentally prepared for a football game is the most important thing as a player, so I never want to detract from that.”

There were plenty of distractions in New York, where Hostetler landed as a third-round draft choice in 1984 after an All-American career at West Virginia.

It was so tough getting on the field at Giants Stadium, because of the presence of Phil Simms, that Hostetler played on special teams before he played as a quarterback.

How many quarterbacks in NFL history can say they blocked a punt before they completed a pass?

When Simms got hurt, Hostetler got his chance, leading the Giants to victory over the Buffalo Bills, 20-19, in Super Bowl XXV. Hostetler completed 20 of 32 passes for 222 yards and a touchdown in that game.

But loyal followers of Simms weren’t happy with the man they regarded as an intruder, despite his heroics.

Hostetler found negative comments scratched in his driveway and his kids were harassed in school.

“Things like that had no place in what I felt was a responsible response to football,” he said.

The era of free agency gave Hostetler a chance to pack up his family and start anew on the other side of the country. He signed a three-year, $7.5-million contract with the Raiders in the spring of 1993.

Hostetler put New York far behind him, but not the controversy. He was known as a ball-control quarterback who excelled at throwing short, accurate passes. But he was coming to a club that specialized in long passes.

Would it work?

Even the Raiders weren’t sure at first. They were known to still be interested in quarterback Jeff George at this time last year, should Hostetler falter at the start of the regular season.

Hostetler won the opener over the Minnesota Vikings, 24-7. Well and good, but he did it by taking advantage of a defensive secondary that was conceding short passes. Hostetler completed 23 of 27, including 15 in a row for a Raider record.

Was he really going to be the heir to Daryle Lamonica, known as the Mad Bomber, and Ken Stabler?

As a matter of fact, on occasion, Hostetler would prove even better. Against the San Diego Chargers, he erased all doubts about his firepower, throwing for a club-record 424 yards.

Hostetler also set a record for Raider quarterbacks with five rushing touchdowns, the top total on the team in ’93.

For the season, he completed 236 of 419 passes for 3,242 yards and 14 touchdowns, all personal highs. Hostetler also threw 10 interceptions, equaling his total of the previous four seasons.

Not only did they finally have a trigger for their long-range arsenal, but a wider range of targets as well.

“He’s got a steady head on his shoulders,” said Tim Brown, Hostetler’s favorite receiver last season. “He’s a football player. Every snap is not going to be a 40- to 45-yard pass. It may be a three- or four-yard gain instead. So, instead of second and 12, we have second and six or second and seven. He doesn’t like to throw long every time. I don’t think that’s his game.”

Brown and his teammates were equally impressed with Hostetler last season when he didn’t throw the ball, but instead took the full force of a 280-pounder slamming him to the ground, then struggled to his feet, ready for more. The only heated discussions Hostetler had with Shell last season involved his ability to go back into the game.

The conversations would always end the same:

Shell: “You OK?”

Hostetler: “I’m fine.”

Shell: “You want to sit out?”

Hostetler: “I’m fine.”

Shell: “You know where you are?”

Hostetler: “I’m fine.”

“I struggled (with injuries) from the third game on,” Hostetler said. “After the season, I sat back and wondered how I really made it through.”

His teammates noticed.

“We got a tough guy playing quarterback for us,” defensive tackle Nolan Harrison said. “We’ve got a tough (reputation) as a team, and the last thing we would want is a quarterback who did not represent that.

“He inspires loyalty in us. People want to follow a guy like that. He doesn’t just talk about it. He has this incredible passion to win and he just keeps coming. This league is not for the patsy quarterbacks who the new rules help to protect, guys who like to throw the ball away to avoid a sack. We really respect a guy like Jeff who just keeps coming, and there are not a lot of quarterbacks who can (do) that.”

But Hostetler’s determination and toughness should not be a surprise. What would you expect from a player who, as a kid, had to withstand electric-shock treatment at the hands of his older brothers?

Hostetler and his three brothers would play football between household chores in Pennsylvania. But older brothers Ron and Doug had this nasty habit of grabbing one of Jeff’s hands in order to subject him to the full force of a nearby electric fence.

If Jeff cried about that or their rough tactics in the family football games, the older Hostetlers threatened to quit.

So young Jeff learned to suffer in silence.

And he still does when he meets up with the likes of Reggie White or Junior Seau, figures far more shocking to those in their path than any fence.

“He’s a good guy to have around,” Brown said. “So full of life and enthusiasm. He can run the offense and put hot sauce in Howie Long’s drink. You can never relax when he’s around.”

Not if you’re on the opposing team.

And certainly not if you’re on his team.