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Hovan only Vikings returning defensive starter

Monday, June 10, 2002 | 10:55 a.m.

Defensive tackle Chris Hovan still puts on the same Minnesota Vikings jersey but he might as well be playing for a different team as the only returning starter on the defensive line.

Only defensive end Talance Sawyer, who played at UNLV, has more tenure on the Vikings' defensive line than the third-year tackle from Boston College.

Like his predecessor, John Randle, Hovan has earned a reputation for having a nonstop engine along with a motor mouth. Now Hovan knows he needs to take on another role Randle held -- team leader.

But Hovan says leadership is earned not by what you say but what you do.

"I want to be all over the field, and someone the offense has to really worry about. I want to be a player people reckon with, like a madman," he said during the Vikings' second mini-camp on Sunday.

The 6-2, 295-pound Hovan has been the Vikings' most consistent lineman since being taken in the first round of the 2000 draft. He started in 13 of the team's 16 regular-season games and both playoff games that season -- the third-most starts by a rookie in team history.

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