It’s the hallmark of his career.
A former Long Island college quarterback took a leap of faith by moving to Hollywood to pursue acting — and now he’s sleighed it as the romantic Hallmark Channel’s new “Mr. Christmas,” upsetting nine others on a reality show to land a role in one of its latest holiday films.
“The other nine were all reached out to [for casting] on Instagram. … I didn’t get anything,” said Lake Ronkonkoma’s Craig Geoghan, the underdog victor of the channel’s recent “Finding Mr. Christmas” competition, to The Post.
“It’s like all the other guys were on scholarship, and I was a walk-on for the show,” said the 34-year-old ex-grid standout, who played for Stony Brook University and was a star at Sachem North High School until 2009.
Geoghan — whose Hallmark flick “A Make or Break Holiday” just debuted — said he knew he had to make a lasting impression during the reality show’s casting period in March, so he boldly marched into Hallmark’s offices unannounced and introduced himself ahead of season two’s filming.
“I was actually able to speak with the casting director. … She said, ‘You know what, we don’t usually take walk-ins, but we think it’d be great for this show we have coming up,’ ” he recalled.
“I said, Where do I sign up?”
The sharp-looking ex-athlete’s acting career previously included starring in Carrie Underwood’s “Ghost Story” music video and roles on “How I Met Your Father” and “Rescue: HI-Surf.”
“I planned on going to the NFL first and foremost, but only the 1% of the 1% get to do that,” said Geoghan, who played at Nassau Community College in between high school and Division One at Stony Brook.
“I shifted routes and wanted to become a physical therapist. … But I didn’t get into my master’s program, and at the time, I was bummed, man, I was really bummed.”
But Geoghan’s loving parents, Keith and Janet, lifted him up and nudged their handsome boy to get headshots for acting about 10 years ago.
“I finally did, and within a week, I was booking work out here on Long Island, doing a local jewelry commercial, doing modeling for the packages of Halloween costumes,” he said.
“Sometimes I still see them in stores from time to time,” said the Giants fan — who wants to play Tom Brady in a biopic someday — of the ads.
Things were going so well that Geoghan tossed up the ultimate Hail Mary and left Suffolk County for Los Angeles in 2017 to take things to the next level.
Quickly, he learned Tinseltown is no fairy tale.
“It took a while to get off the bench and into the game. You audition and audition a lot of times, you don’t hear back,” said Geoghan, noting he would self-motivate every time he drove past the Hollywood sign.
Years of enduring the “slow process” pushed the former signal caller to door-knock for his spot on “Finding Mr. Christmas,” which became an entirely new type of competition he wasn’t used to.
“It’s not cutthroat or anything like that,” he said of the eight-week show that filmed around Utah last spring.
“We’re all rooting each other on. … We became like buds, but at the same time, it is competition.”
The sweet but survival-themed show tested Geoghan’s acting prowess — for example, by having to stay in Christmas cheer in high temps and thick sweaters — as he proved to judges including Jonathan Bennett that he was more than “the funny guy.”
That came easily when they flew his mom out to serve as a guest judge on an episode, in which Geoghan had to read aloud a heartfelt Christmas card to her.
“It was tough to kind of get the words out because I have so much love for her,” he said of the woman who gave him the push he needed to follow his dreams.
“Grown-man tears. Lots of grown-man tears.”
Now, Geoghan’s latest acting credit is Hallmark’s recently debuted, “A Make or Break Holiday,” which may be a make-or-break moment in his career.
“I’m looking forward to a big 2026,” Geoghan said.
While back on Long Island for the holidays, he was cheered on by teachers and students during a homecoming visit at his high school alma mater Tuesday.
“To have people like ‘Craig, we saw you, were rooting for you, it’s very special,” Geoghan said.
[Notigroup Newsroom in collaboration with other media outlets, with information from the following sources]
