Blake Hance rang in 2021 as a member of the New York Jets practice squad. The young offensive lineman was buried below a slew of players on the depth chart of a 2-13 team entering Week 17.
On Sunday, January 10th, Hance played meaningful snaps in place of Pro Bowl left guard Joel Bitonio in the Cleveland Browns’ stunning playoff win over the Pittsburgh Steelers. He acquitted himself nicely in his 14 snaps, almost all of which came against Steelers standout defender, Cam Heyward, too.
Not bad for a guy who Browns quarterback Baker Mayfield admitted he first met in the locker room just before the game. Hance still hasn’t officially met head coach Kevin Stefanski, who remains away from the team with COVID-19. He’s so new to the Browns that there isn’t even a team picture of him on the official website, and we don’t yet have one in our vast database either.
It’s a remarkable and rapid sequence of events for Hance. On Monday, the day after his NFL active-roster debut, Hance turned 25. It’s quite a happy birthday for a second-year player converted from tackle at Northwestern into a guard in various NFL practice squad spots and tryouts with the Bills, Jaguars, Football Team and Jets.
Happy birthday to Hance!