FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — Brian Hoyer was 11 years old when the Cleveland Browns moved to Baltimore. When the next Browns franchise joined the league, Hoyer was entering high school and, by that point, he didn’t have an allegiance to any NFL team.
Growing up, Hoyer loved football, but favored individual players more than teams, due to the Browns’ relocation. His early favorite was Hall-of-Fame cornerback Deion Sanders. But as a quarterback himself, there was another player he “always loved.”
Tom Brady.
Hoyer was 15 when Brady entered the NFL. Fast forward 19 years and Hoyer has far more in common with Brady than even he would’ve expected. The Patriots’ backup quarterback has become one of Brady’s closest friends and someone who pushes him daily.
“It’s a unique position because to me, obviously as a quarterback you want to play,” Hoyer said, “To me, I would love to be playing, but if I’m going to be a backup, there’s one guy that I’m willing to be a backup to and that’s him because I have such admiration for him and we’re such good friends. There’s competition always because we’re always competing against each other and it’s a healthy competition because I’m always trying to push him.”
Brady loves to challenge backup quarterbacks. At times, you’ll see trashcans set up in the corner of the end zone and each passer will take a turn trying to get the ball in the bucket. There’s another, where each quarterback will try to hit the crossbar on the field goal post. The first one to get there wins.
Hoyer claims he’s beaten Brady more over the last two seasons. It’s part of what makes this friendship work.
“I think he appreciates that,” Hoyer said. “He doesn’t want someone in here that’s not going to push him.”
It wasn’t always like that. Hoyer admits that when he first came to the Patriots as an undrafted rookie in 2009, he was a little star struck with the man he looked up in high school. How was Hoyer supposed to push a three-time Super Bowl champion?
It took the quarterback to get out of Foxborough to find some answers. After being released by the Patriots in 2012, Hoyer started for five NFL teams – Arizona, Cleveland, Houston, Chicago and San Francisco. When the Patriots brought Hoyer back in 2017, he had 37 career starts.
Outside of football, as a father of two, Hoyer also has more in common with Brady, a father of three, during this second stint.
“Now, I look at it like he’s my friend. He’s my fellow quarterback and our relationship is so much more fun this time around,” Hoyer said. “We’re kind of in similar life stages. We can talk about things that are a lot more similar. When I was here the first time, I never played any meaningful football. Since then, I’ve been a starter for four different teams.
“I think he values my opinions and regards those very highly. I never would ever hold something back if I felt like I needed to say something to him. Whether it’s about how he’s throwing the football or whatever it might be.”
Hoyer’s relationship with Brady also fostered a positive working environment. He admittedly has been in situations before where his relationship with other quarterbacks wasn’t very good due to “jealously” and it created a toxic work environment. Now? Hoyer loves coming to work, in part thanks to his friendship.
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