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The NFL, it seems, knows something about Columbia football that the rest of us don't. Despite Bwog's (and most everyone else's) expectations of our football program, our varsity quarterback has proved himself worthy of the majors. Senior Craig Hormann has been signed to the Cincinnati Bengals Cleveland Browns. Though he went unpicked in the draft, Hormann will don a new wild cat jersey in the fall. Congratulations to Craig!

Commentors are invited to explain this whole football thing to Bwog. How is one signed after the draft ends? How is one signed after leading one's team to a record of 1 win and 9 losses?

See also: Craig Hormann, Football, Puzzles

April 27, 2008 @ 8:51 PM | Comments 37 comments | Add comment Post a comment | Link to this article | | | Share on Facebook

Posted by awesome: #1 · reply · track
April 27, 2008 at 8:53 PM (from campus)
what is also crazy is that he is an engineer, and quite successful too.
Posted by Stephen: #2 · reply · track
April 27, 2008 at 8:56 PM
if you don't get drafted, you become an undrafted free agent. that means any team can come around, offer you a league minimum salary and you join their team.

maybe the bengals saw something about hormann that they liked... physicality, intelligence, mechanics, leadership... something... the bengals have nothing to lose, you pick up a free agent and you have a few months to try them out before the season starts and you can cut them if they suck and/or you don't have roster space for them.
Posted by Stephen: #3 · reply · track
April 27, 2008 at 8:57 PM
congrats to him. a lot of people go undrafted... undrafted forever. hopefully he can get onto at least the practice squad when the season starts.
Posted by DHI: #4 · reply · track
April 27, 2008 at 9:11 PM (from campus)
Man come on Bwog, undrafted free agents? This should be well known, Tony Romo and Antonio Gates were both undrafted free agents for example.
Posted by NWilson: #5 · reply · track
April 27, 2008 at 9:20 PM
Despite playing before bad offensive and defensive lines with a team that used virtually no running game all season, Hormann was one of the best quarterbacks Columbia's had in a very long time and I think broke all sorts of records during his time here. Nice to see you guys pick this story up, but he had really little to do with the team's 1-9 record.
Posted by actually...: #6 · reply · track
April 27, 2008 at 9:23 PM (from campus)
he was signed by the Cleveland Browns

[external link to myespn.go.com]

Posted by Cleveland Rocks : #7 · reply · track
April 27, 2008 at 9:43 PM (from campus)
go browns !
Posted by Anonymous Nighthawk: #8 · reply · track
April 27, 2008 at 9:55 PM (from campus)
What is this sport you speak of?
Posted by typical bwog: #9 · reply · track
April 27, 2008 at 9:57 PM (from campus)
not understanding anything about sports and spouting its ignorance as reporting
Posted by yeah: #10 (in reply to #4) · reply · track
April 27, 2008 at 10:03 PM (from campus)
www.tonyhomo.com
Posted by Ahh: #11 · reply · track
April 27, 2008 at 10:07 PM (from campus)
God, I love going to a school that knows nothing about sports. Really. I don't give a shit about professional football.
Posted by college: #12 · reply · track
April 27, 2008 at 10:13 PM
football is quite entertaining though. professional football is boring and bland
Posted by DHI: #13 (in reply to #10) · reply · track
April 27, 2008 at 10:20 PM (from campus)
Oh shit I had no idea that there were new posts on that blog since the 2006 season.
Posted by DHI: #14 (in reply to #13) · reply · track
April 27, 2008 at 10:20 PM (from campus)
It is hilarious by the way.
Posted by come on discoe: #15 (in reply to #4) · reply · track
April 27, 2008 at 10:23 PM (from campus)
if it's established that somebody didn't know what an undrafted free agent is, why would you expect them to know the names of any but the most famous of football players?
Posted by tony homo: #16 · reply · track
April 27, 2008 at 10:29 PM (from campus)
In the 80's John Witkowski threw for 8000 yards at Columbia, had about 3 wins in 3 years, then went to a 5 year career in the NFL.
Posted by DHI: #17 · reply · track
April 27, 2008 at 10:34 PM (from campus)
Romo's jersey was #1 in sales last year and Antonio Gates is a perennial Pro-Bowler so they're among the most famous players in the league. Plus every announcer constantly talks about Romo and Gates being undrafted.

People who don't know football might still know Romo because of Jessica Simpson.
Posted by just to give a : #18 · reply · track
April 27, 2008 at 10:55 PM
further heads up to bwog, Hormann will probably be looking at practice squad duty in his immediate future--apparently though he might have the talent to eventually be a backup somewhere and he's looked at as somewhat of a sleeper(he actually was worked out by the Giants too--who did actually draft a qb this draft--so I'm sure they'd have taken a look at him as an FA too). In fact he got worked out by a lot of teams and is thought off as having a chance at being a 3rd or 4th qb.

[external link to sportsillustrated.cnn.com]

Major congrats to the guy though--how many students can truly say they'll be earning their living doing something they love right out of college?
Posted by well: #19 (in reply to #18) · reply · track
April 27, 2008 at 11:21 PM
Not to throw water on your sentiment, but from a place like Columbia, a lot of grad are probably doing what they love.

Craig deserves plenty of credit though, because not many Ivy League athletes get to do what they love after college if it's to continue playing their sport at a higher level.

Good luck Craig!
Posted by congrats to him: #20 · reply · track
April 28, 2008 at 12:01 AM (from campus)
that's awesome, best of luck with it
Posted by sorry: #21 · reply · track
April 28, 2008 at 12:28 AM (from campus)
but horrman will not be on the roster after training camp. Good for him for making it this far, but he's just not NFL material (there's a reason Scouts Inc. had him as the lowest rated QB in the draft), so he won't be earning his living off football. At least he has a real job lined up in the fall
Posted by i don't know: #22 (in reply to #21) · reply · track
April 28, 2008 at 12:56 AM
UFA's who are somewhat coveted are usually signed to longer than 1 yr contracts

He will probably be a camp arm for the browns, but I wouldn't be surprised if he could bounce along practice squads for a couple years. Like I said, he'll probably get to start off doing what he loves (maybe he'll go to the cfl like teh previous year's highest profile CU footballer) which is pretty awesome.

By the way, SI didn't have him as their lowest rated qb and neither did a bunch of other draft/scouting sites. Scout is also a clear second to rivals in football scouting/recruiting.
Posted by Stephen: #23 · reply · track
April 28, 2008 at 1:22 AM
you have to change more in the article.

"will don a new wild cat jersey", is now incorrect as the Browns aren't any sort of wildcat... if anything it's a dog.
Posted by booo: #24 · reply · track
April 28, 2008 at 4:08 AM (from campus)
bwog sports coverage sucks. but props for at least posting this. that's solid.
Posted by congrats: #25 · reply · track
April 28, 2008 at 4:11 AM (from campus)
to craig -- this is a tremendous achievement and the little kid in me is extremely jealous

reading this article was also another of those times that i'm sad that i picked columbia - no one knows or cares about our sports, and though I definitely understand the apathy with a huge legacy of sucking and a ridiculous number of artsy folks, it still bums me out. for example, our baseball team just won their division and stand a good chance to beat dartmouth for the ivy title and go to the college world series. this is a pretty big deal, yet no one fucking knows, and attendence at their games will probably always be equal numbers of relatives of players vs. columbia students
Posted by meh: #26 · reply · track
April 28, 2008 at 9:00 AM (from campus)
look at me, I'm an intellectual. I don't know anything about sports because I am too busy writing snarky unfunny skits. I also don't own a tv because it interferes with my reading.
Posted by Slow Down A Minute: #27 (in reply to #25) · reply · track
April 28, 2008 at 10:58 AM (from campus)
There are plenty of people at Columbia who love sports, but most don't care too much for Columbia sports.

It is frustrating that there are pricks who actively dislike sports and mock those who do. As you correctly stated, they think they're so much more intellectual by doing awful improv or low-grade concerts.
Posted by EAL: #28 (in reply to #25) · reply · track
April 28, 2008 at 11:13 AM (from campus)
My thoughts exactly. As a Columbia sports fan, it can be really frustrating to go to school here. Not because the sports aren't that great, but more to do with the apathetic attitude of the students here. And, for the record, our sports aren't that bad. Basketball is decent (although we should have done better this year), baseball (and I knew about this) has a good chance to win the Ivy title, and men's heavyweight crew is ranked among the top ten rowing programs in the country. But unfortunately, as you rightly pointed out, nobody cares. I find that to be tragic, since it means we can never really have that sense of community that other schools do. Nothing brings students together like sports programs.

I've been to other Ivy schools for football games, and I can tell you that a good deal of people there at least care about their sports teams. Dartmouth football is about as bad as we are, yet for homecoming and other games, people at least go. Guess I should have taken student life and a sense of community into account when I chose a college.

Congratulations, Craig! Best of luck in Cleveland!
Posted by to be fair: #29 (in reply to #28) · reply · track
April 28, 2008 at 11:30 AM
there's a solid amount of support for the basketball team (maybe youre hanging with the wrong crowd) and i remember having conversation with my friends about incoming recruits etc. Jones hiring and efforts definitely paid off as did the baumann/ben class. It also helped that most of the basketball players were friendly and personable people.

Baseball players tend to be dicks (and I am/was friends with a bunch of them) so it doesn't suprise me that even with success they aren't popular.

Otherwise, crew doesn't capture anyone's attention anywhere (neither does fencing or wrestling) because its simply not a popular/high profile sport.

Football is the one sport that has the potential to rile up some support but its been stuck in doldrums for the past 10 yrs.

I agree that the culture at Columbia doesn't help with support of sports but it isn't as much of a student driven problem as some make it out to be.
Posted by stop whining: #30 (in reply to #28) · reply · track
April 28, 2008 at 1:13 PM
If you want to go to a school where people care about sports, don't come to Columbia. If you do come to columbia, do not whine or attempt to change the prevailing worldview here that sports are a complete waste of time, money, and effort.
Posted by EAL: #31 (in reply to #30) · reply · track
April 28, 2008 at 1:25 PM (from campus)
I'd rather change that prevailing worldview than have to listen to your apathetic bile. Sports create community, generate spirit, and build loyalty for the institution, which in turn results in higher donations from alumni who are proud to have attended. I chose to come here for the academics, not the sports scene; Columbia was the best academic institution that I got into. Had I really wanted good sports, I would have gone to an ACC school. But even though Ivy League sports are usually not on the national radar, that doesn't prevent students from other Ivy schools from enjoying their teams. If you really wanted to go some athletically apathetic wasteland, why didn't you go to NYU?
Posted by DHI: #32 (in reply to #30) · reply · track
April 28, 2008 at 1:43 PM (from campus)
That's not really the prevailing worldview even if people don't care about Columbia sports.
Posted by Agreed: #33 (in reply to #32) · reply · track
April 28, 2008 at 2:54 PM (from campus)
Most people who think sports are a waste of time as awful at them, and hence don't bother.

I'm pretty bad a whole slew of sports, but they are still a ton of fun to play and watch. Most Americans, and most people anywhere in the world, are in the same boat as I am.
Posted by then again: #34 (in reply to #33) · reply · track
April 28, 2008 at 2:58 PM
you get people like me...who wasted away my 4.3 forty time and 400lb max bench while inhaling hamdel sandwiches in CC
Posted by ...: #35 (in reply to #31) · reply · track
April 28, 2008 at 10:01 PM (from campus)
athletics programs are just like any other extracurricular. they create community for those that are deeply involved in them. just like theater, or college radio, or ...

the only way sports would really build community here would be if:

1) dorms were broken up into "houses" where students stay for the duration of the studies.

2) mandatory participation on "house" teams in a strong intramural program.

what you say? sounds really lame?

freedom and independence. strong sense of community.

pick one.
Posted by actually: #36 (in reply to #35) · reply · track
April 28, 2008 at 11:26 PM
Athletics are not just like any extracurricular. The athletes represent the University in a very public way. Most extracurricular activities are solipsistic in nature and only accrue benefits to the participants. A strong athletics program does bestow prestige on the University.

Harvard may be proud of the Lampoon and the Crimson... but the alumni don't give a rats ass unless the football team beats Yale.
Posted by well: #37 · reply · track
June 3, 2008 at 6:55 PM
it looks like hormann got cut right after mini camp. Looks like crennel saw in him what we all saw: a 1-9 (0-7 ivy) qb, not an NFL signal caller
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