Pittsburgh Steelers RB Merril Hoge was a key piece for the Steelers in the early 1990s, but he thought they wanted nothing to do with him ahead of the 1987 NFL Draft. During an appearance on the Like A Farmer podcast, Hoge detailed how only five teams met with him at Idaho State after a poor Combine, with the Steelers being one of them. Pittsburgh was the only team that didn’t work him out, leading him to believe they weren’t interested.
Hoge got the flu before the Combine, which impacted his performance and led him to believe no one would draft him.