If anyone could talk about field vision, it's Hess, who, if you don't know, graduated Princeton in 1998 after being a huge part of NCAA championship men's lacrosse teams his final three seasons, something that has not been matched in the 28 years since. He was part of the epic attack line along with Jesse Hubbard and Chris Massey, one that is widely considered the greatest ever.
Hess was known as the feeder of the trio. He finished his Princeton career with 133 assists, which at the time was second all-time in program history and today is still fourth. His numbers would have been higher had he not sat out quite a few fourth quarters in Tiger blowouts.
Throw in the fact that he is a veteran public speaker, and he is clearly someone you want to talk to about field vision. And perhaps another time, TB will do just that, though he already has several times.
This time, the subject was sort of his ability to see the field, though this was more the view from 10,000 feet. Or 100,000 feet, for that matter.
TB was asked by Brian Logue from USA Lacrosse to help him find a creative way to let Hess know that he'd been selected for the National Lacrosse Hall of Fame Class of 2026. To accomplish this, TB reached out to Hubbard, already a member of the Hall of Fame, and told him that TB would reach out to Hess to set up a Zoom meeting for the fictitious feature story.
Instead, though, Hubbard would send the link out to as many of their teammates as he could. When Hess logged on, there they'd be.
TB also sent the link to Bill Tierney, David Metzbower and Bryce Chase, who coached him, and to then-athletic trainer George O'Neil. That whole group logged on 15 minutes before TB told Hess to join in. Here's what happened when Hess did so:
The moment Jon Hess found out he was named to the new National Lacrosse Hall of Fame class. Jon thought he was logging on to a Zoom for a one-on-one talk for a story about field vision. pic.twitter.com/cqZwrxdHbV
— Princeton Men's Lacrosse (@TigerLacrosse) September 10, 2026
Those emotions are so genuine. So is the love from his teammates back to him.
Also on the call was current head coach Matt Madalon, who led the most recent Tigers to the program's seventh NCAA championship this past spring. Hess, who previously served as the president of the Friends of Princeton Men's Lacrosse, has been a very active alum and a huge fan of the program ever since he graduated. Madalon's presence showed the link that exists through Tigers from all generations.
Congratulations to Jon Hess, who also played professionally in Major League Lacrosse. He'll be a very deserving inductee come Jan. 9, 2027, when the new class is enshrined. Can Massey be next?
Major League Lacrosse was the professional outdoor league that predated the current one, the Premier Lacrosse League. The PLL has its championship game Sunday at 12:30 at Sports Illustrated Stadium, and the final matches the Denver Outlaws and the Philadelphia Waterdogs. Tierney and Princeton alums Michael Sowers and Zach Currier are all members of the Waterdogs.
The PLL will also have its awards ceremony Friday night, and Princeton alums are all over the list of finalists. In all there are eight Princetonians with a total of 11 nominations between them.
Also, the NCAA championship team from this spring will be honored at the game, and there is a special Princeton ticket discount available. Click HERE and enter the code 26TIGERS.
Oh, and since you asked: the cricket drank all the beer and left a note that said "how about some pretzels next time?" Actually, TB believes that the only way the beer would have taken out the cricket would have been if he had dropped the can on the guy and crushed him.
Either way, the cricket is still hanging out somewhere in TB's bathroom.
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