Sam Huff, the Hall of Fame linebacker for the New York Giants and Washington Football Team, died on Saturday at 87.
Prior to his NFL career, Huff was an All-American two-way starter at West Virginia University, helping lead the Mountaineers to a combined four-year mark of 31-7 and a berth in the 1954 Sugar Bowl. He went on to be drafted in the third round (30th overall) by the New York Giants in 1956.
Huff helped lead the Giants to an NFL championship — with a 47-7 victory over the Chicago Bears — during his rookie season in 1956.
Huff was All-NFL three times, a five-time Pro Bowler and was named the top NFL linebacker in 1959. The NFL defensive star became synonymous with the rising profile of hard-hitting defensive football. At the age of 24, Huff became the second NFL player ever to be featured on the cover of Time magazine, and was later the subject of a network television special, "The Violent World of Sam Huff," hosted by Walter Cronkite and airing on CBS in 1960.
Huff played for two legendary coaches during his career, under Giants defensive coordinator Tom Landry from 1956 to 1959 and Washington head coach Vince Lombardi in 1969. After sitting out the 1968 season, Huff was talked out of retirement by Lombardi, coming back to lead the Redskins to a 7-5-2 season in 1969, their best season since 1955 (8-4). In his 13-year NFL career, Huff recorded 30 interceptions, recovered 17 fumbles and scored two defensive touchdowns. He also appeared in six NFL title games.
After his playing career, Huff began a second career in broadcasting, joining Washington's play-by-play booth in 1975. In 1981, Huff was joined in the booth by Sonny Jurgensen and Frank Herzog, creating "Sonny, Sam, and Frank." The legendary trio called three Super Bowl victories together, and broadcast games on both WJFK-FM and WTEM-AM. Huff retired from the broadcast prior to the 2013 season, the same year he was diagnosed with dementia.
Recalling his time in the booth with Sonny and Sam, Herzog told 106.7 The Fan on Sunday, "Can you imagine sitting in the bar with Hall of Famers on each side of you, and you're watching a football game and you're talking about it all day? I mean, that's what it was like."
In addition to being enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1982, Huff is a member of both the Giants Ring of Honor and Washington's Ring of Fame, and is a member of the 80 Greatest Washington players. His No. 75 jersey is retired at West Virginia.