The Pittsburgh Steelers and OL Brock Hoffman were linked during the legal tampering period of free agency, but nothing official happened. That is, until earlier this week. Beat writer Mark Kaboly reported the Steelers were signing Hoffman to a one-year deal.
Kaboly’s report proved correct. Hoffman officially signed his contract with Pittsburgh on Monday.
Our own Alex Kozora watched Hoffman’s tape to help us understand Hoffman as a football player. But who is Brock Hoffman, the human? Here are five things to know about the Steelers’ newest offensive lineman.
Family Pedigree
Brock Hoffman’s father, Brian Hoffman, played college football at Catawba College. He spent time on both sides of the ball, playing tight end and defensive end. Brian Hoffman later coached at Catawba, making Brock Hoffman the son of both a college football player and a college football coach.
Gets His Football Mentality From His Parents
It shouldn’t surprise anyone that Hoffman’s tough mentality comes from his father. He credits his father for helping instill an old-time football mentality.
“I think it’s a lot of my upbringing with my dad being a former college coach,” Hoffman said in an interview with ESPN in 2024. “Back in the day, football was a little bit more physical, I guess, than nowadays, but I still try to bring that old-school mentality to the game.”
Hoffman’s father wasn’t the only parent developing his toughness. Something his mother said to him in third grade is permanently ingrained in his memory.
“I remember in the third grade she called me soft,” Hoffman said in that same interview. “She called me another word, but soft is what I would say. And ever since then, I was never going to be a soft football player.”
Switched Schools To Support His Mother, But Had To Sit Out A Year
Some would be bitter about their mother speaking less-than-kindly about them at a young age. Not Hoffman, though, who was motivated by her words. He endured a massive upheaval in his life to help care for her.
Hoffman started his college career at Coastal Carolina, where he played for two years. However, his mother developed a brain tumor called an acoustic neuroma. According to the Mayo Clinic, this is a non-cancerous tumor on the main nerve connecting the inner ear and the brain. It can lead to dizziness, balance issues, and hearing issues, including hearing loss and ringing in the ear.
Thankfully, surgery successfully removed the tumor. However, it was an incredibly tough experience for her and the whole family. Hoffman attempted to come home to Statesville, NC, as often as he could, but the 200-mile trip between the university and home was overwhelming.
So, Hoffman transferred to Virginia Tech. Tech’s campus is half the distance from home as Coastal Carolina. He applied for the NCAA’s “Family Medical Hardship Waiver” to play for the Hokies immediately, but the NCAA rejected his waiver. The reason? The waiver is for students whose campuses were closer than 100 miles to home. Virginia Tech’s campus was 105 miles from the Hoffmans’ Statesville home. Despite multiple appeals, the NCAA never budges.
Hoffman took to Twitter/X to announce the rejection of his appeals and that he would redshirt the 2019 college season.
2020 Loading…⏳ pic.twitter.com/qQpoG2woIf
— Brock (@BrockHoffman76) August 27, 2019
Won The 2021 Wells Fargo Advisors Humanitarian Of The Year Award Given By The Touchdown Club Of Richmond
Brock Hoffman may be a tough, fierce guy on the football field. However, outside the lines of the gridiron, he certainly cares about people. He received recognition for that caring in 2021, becoming the first Virginia Tech player to win the Wells Fargo Advisors Humanitarian Of The Year Award. The award is for “a football player from a program in the Commonwealth of Virginia who has gone above and beyond to make a positive impact on campus and in his community.”
According to the announcement, Hoffman gave back to both the Virginia Tech community and his hometown of Statesville. He served as a mentor to school kids, partnered with a car dealership to distribute 350 backpacks with school supplies to sixth-graders, organized a book drive/card-writing campaign for a senior living center, and raised funds for the National Brain Trauma Association on behalf of his mother.
Reunited With His Former Coach And Running Back
The general public doesn’t know who else tried to sign Brock Hoffman in free agency. However, the Steelers probably had as strong a case for Hoffman as any other team. Their starting left guard departed in free agency, so he has an opportunity. But more importantly, Hoffman played for his new head coach before and blocked for one of his new running backs.
Hoffman played under the Steelers’ head coach, Mike McCarthy, for three seasons in Dallas. He also helped pave the way for new Steelers RB Rico Dowdle during their time together in Dallas. McCarthy praised Hoffman to ESPN, so he’s certainly happy to have Hoffman in Pittsburgh.
“Super consistent,” McCarthy said. “His attitude and energy, what he brings to the workplace has just been on point since he’s been here. Super professional, so well-prepared. He’s got a connective personality, and he definitely deserves a lot of credit for the mindset and play style that he’s really pushed along up front.”
Between McCarthy’s comments and Hoffman’s descriptor of “never going to be a soft football player,” he certainly sounds like a Steelers offensive lineman.
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