He played college football for the Michigan Wolverines (1966–1968) and in the NFL for the Arizona Cardinals (1971), New England Patriots (1972–1973), San Diego Chargers (1974), Denver Broncos (1975), and New York Jets (1975).

[1][3] In naming him to its All-State team, the UPI noted: "Hoey, a 5-foot-10, 165-pounder, gained 502 yards in 64 carries and caught 17 passes.

He scored 11 touchdowns to lead the Saginaw Valley Conference for the second straight year.

A great broken-field runner, he has scored eight touchdowns on kickoff or punt returns during his two-year stint with the varsity.

[4] On his high school track team, Hoey won the 60-yard dash at the Central Michigan Relays Invitational indoor meet with a time of 6.3 seconds.

[5][6] With Ron Johnson playing halfback, Hoey was used principally as a defensive back and punt returner.

[1] Though he was also an All-Big Ten defensive back, Hoey is most remembered as one of the leading punt returners in Michigan history.

[9] Hoey also holds the modern (post-1949) Michigan school record for yards per return in a season.

[14] He played five seasons in the NFL for the St. Louis Cardinals (1971), New England Patriots (1972–1973), San Diego Chargers (1974), Denver Broncos (1975) and New York Jets (1975).

Hoey "came under fire for an eligibility problem of a prospective CU athlete,"[18] including linebacker Anwawn Jones who lost a year of eligibility and was forced to sit out the 1999 NCAA Division I-A football season due to an error in calculating his transfer credits.

That October, Jones told The Denver Post that Hoey "wasn't necessarily a scapegoat, but there were definitely mistakes made in his department.

"[18] Recruiting issues arose after Rick Neuheisel departed as Colorado's head football coach and were part of broader problems that resulted in the school's being placed on two years' probation for 53 rules violations, 51 occurring while Neuheisel was the Colorado coach.

"[20] In May 2007, Hoey was the University of Colorado's career development coordinator and a co-chair of the Black Faculty/Staff Association,[21] and the Virginia Patterson Chapter of Mortar Board Honors Society at the University of Colorado honored Hoey for his efforts to educate students.