Uncle fester wrote: Sat Jan 11, 2025 11:30 am
He's also a distant relation of George Best apparently?
There are parallels there, though of course the world Best was in was huge compared to rugby. Hogg became a very big name in the very small ponds of Glasgow and Scotland rugby. He carried that on at Exeter.
I thought I'd written this before on this thread, if I've done so on another one then apologies for the repetition, but Hogg was in a car crash when he was around 16 or 17, I think two of his mates died, including his best friend. They were stupid boys hurtling round those tight roads in the Borders - the sign Hogg made to the heavens any time he scored was a remembrance of that.
He was a professional player at 18, at 19 he became an international player cited as the biggest thing in Scottish rugby since Andy Irvine, with that came pressure, money and drink. He seriously fucked it all up.
This doesn't excuse any of his appalling behaviour, but perhaps it's part of the explanation.