Robert Lee "Sam" Huff (October 4, 1934 – November 13, 2021) was an American professional football player whose frequent battles against Cleveland Browns star fullback Jim Brown made him the first member of the defense to gain widespread prominence in the National Football League. He starred for the New York Giants and the Washington Redskins in the pro ranks and the West Virginia Mountaineers in college. The one-time NFL champion, two-time All-Pro and five-time Pro Bowl selection is a member of the College Football Hall of Fame and the Pro Football Hall of Fame (inducted 1982).
Early life
Huff was born and grew up in the No. 9 coal mining camp in Edna, West Virginia. The fourth of six children of Oral and Catherine Huff, he lived with his family in a small rowhouse with no running water. Huff grew up during the Great Depression while his father and two of his brothers worked in the coal mines loading buggies for Consolidated Mining.
Huff attended and played high school football at the now-closed Farmington High School, where he was both an offensive and defensive lineman. While he was there, Huff helped lead the team to an undefeated season in 1951. He earned All-State honors in 1952 and was named to the first-team All-Mason Dixon Conference. 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. Huff was also named first team Academic All-American for his outstanding efforts in the classroom.
Professional career
New York Giants
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. 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.
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In 1958, the Giants again won the East and Huff played in the 1958 NFL Championship Game. The final score was Baltimore Colts 23, New York Giants 17.
On November 27, 1966, Huff and the Redskins beat his former Giant teammates 72–41, in the highest-scoring game in league history. Huff then retired for good after 14 seasons and 30 career interceptions. While with Marriott, Huff was responsible for selling over 600,000 room nights via a partnership between the NFL and Marriott that booked teams into Marriott branded hotels for away games. In the late 1950s and early 1960s he was a spokesman for Marlboro cigarettes.
Commentator
After retiring from football, Huff spent three seasons as a color commentator for the Giants radio team and then moved on in the same capacity to the Redskins Radio Network, where he remained until his retirement at the end of the 2012 season, calling games alongside former Redskins teammate Sonny Jurgensen and play-by-play announcers Frank Herzog (1979–2004) and Larry Michael (2005–2012).
In 2001, Huff was ranked number six on Sports Illustrateds list of West Virginia's 50 Greatest Athletes. In 2005, Huff's uniform number 75 was retired by West Virginia University.
Horse breeding and racing
In 1986 Huff began breeding thoroughbred racehorses at Sporting Life Farm in Middleburg, Virginia. His filly, Bursting Forth, won the 1998 Matchmaker Handicap. He also helped establish the West Virginia Breeders' Classic.
Politics
In 1970, Huff ran for a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives,