Sam Huff

At 89 years old, Sam Huff physical status not available right now. We will update Sam Huff's height, weight, eye color, hair color, build, and measurements.

Huff attended and played college football for West Virginia University, where he majored in physical education. He started at guard as a sophomore, then as a tackle his next two years, after winning a letter as a backup guard during his freshman season. He was a four-year letterman and helped lead West Virginia to a combined four-year mark of 31–7 and a berth in the Sugar Bowl.

In 1955, Huff was voted an All-American and served as co-captain in both the East–West Shrine Game and the Senior Bowl. Huff was also named first team Academic All-American for his outstanding efforts in the classroom.

Professional career

Huff was drafted in the third round of the 1956 NFL Draft by the New York Giants. In training camp, head coach Jim Lee Howell was having a hard time coming up with a position for Huff. Discouraged, Huff left camp, but was stopped at the airport by assistant (offensive) coach Vince Lombardi, who coaxed him back to camp.

Then, defensive coordinator Tom Landry came up with the new 4–3 defensive scheme that he thought would fit Huff perfectly. The Giants switched him from the line to middle linebacker behind Ray Beck. Huff liked the position because he could keep his head up and use his superb peripheral vision to see the whole field. On October 7, 1956, in a game against the Chicago Cardinals, Beck was injured and Huff was put into his first professional game. He then helped the Giants win five consecutive games and they finished with an 8–3–1 record, which gave them the Eastern Conference title. New York went on to win the 1956 NFL Championship Game and Huff became the first rookie middle linebacker to start an NFL championship game.

In 1958, the Giants again won the East and Huff played in the 1958 NFL Championship Game. The championship, which became widely known as "The Greatest Game Ever Played", was the first National Football League (NFL) game to go into sudden death overtime. The final score was Baltimore Colts 23, New York Giants 17.

In 1959, Huff and the Giants again went to the NFL Championship Game, which ended in a 31–16 loss to the Colts. Also that year, Huff became the first NFL player to be featured on the cover of Time magazine on November 30, 1959. He almost passed up the magazine appearance, demanding money to be interviewed, but relented when Time agreed to give him the cover portrait. Huff was also the subject of an October 31, 1960 CBS television special, "The Violent World of Sam Huff", broadcast as an episode of the Walter Cronkite-hosted anthology series The Twentieth Century. The network wired Huff for sound in practice and in an exhibition game.

The Giants then visited the championship under new coach Allie Sherman in 1961, 1962, and 1963, but lost every one of them. To improve what he thought was a defensive problem, Sherman then traded many defensive players, including Cliff Livingston, Rosey Grier, and Dick Modzelewski. After these trades, Huff went to owner Wellington Mara and was assured he would not be traded. But in 1964, Giants head coach Allie Sherman traded Huff to the Washington Redskins for defensive tackle Andy Stynchula and running back Dick James. The trade made front-page news in New York City and was greeted with jeers from Giants fans, who crowded Yankee Stadium yelling "Huff-Huff-Huff-Huff."

Huff played in four consecutive Pro Bowls with the Giants from 1959 through 1963. He was named most valuable player of the 1961 Pro Bowl.

Huff joined the Redskins in 1964 and they agreed to pay him $30,000 in salary and $5,000 for scouting, compared to the $19,000 he would have made another year with New York. The impact Huff had was almost immediate and the Redskins' defense was ranked second in the NFL in 1965.

On November 27, 1966, Huff and the Redskins beat his former Giant teammates 72–41, in the highest-scoring game in league history. After an ankle injury in 1967 ended his streak of 150 straight games played Huff retired in 1968.

Vince Lombardi talked Huff out of retirement in 1969 when he was named Washington's head coach. The Redskins went 7–5–2 and had their best season since 1955 (which kept Lombardi's record of never having coached a losing NFL team intact). Huff then retired for good after 14 seasons and 30 career interceptions. He spent one season coaching the Redskins' linebackers in 1970 following Lombardi's death from colon cancer.

Source