Word: baugh
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Dates: during 1950-1959
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...lean and fragile," said the scouting report. "He can't play the kind of football we play in this conference." Samuel Adrian Baugh (rhymes with law) was, indeed, lean (6 ft. 2 in., 175 lbs.), but the rawboned Texan from Sweetwater was far from fragile. What's more, he wanted to play football so badly that he spent hour after hour throwing a ball through a swinging auto tire to learn passing accuracy. The practice paid off. Baugh was an All-America quarterback in 1935 and 1936 and led his Texas Christian teammates to victory in both...
...hard-hitting baseball player as well, Baugh got an offer to try out as a third baseman for the St. Louis Cardinals. He settled instead for a professional football contract with the Washington Redskins. Owner George Preston Marshall introduced his new star to reporters by dressing him up in a cowboy outfit, from Stetson to high-heeled boots. Taciturn Sam answered questions in monosyllables. His most notable remark: "Mah feet hurt...
...Baugh let his passing arm do the talking for him. Year after year his slingshot passes-bullet "buttonhooks" or pinpointed "floaters"-found their mark on the field and in the National Football League record books. He picked up such nicknames as the "Redskin Rifle," the "Sweetwater Stringbean," and, naturally, "Slingin' Sam." And in the rough & tumble N.F.L., sinewy Sam Baugh, the kid who was once considered too fragile for college football, never once had a serious injury, never broke a bone...
...recent years, every time the pass master cocked his arm to throw a football he set a record. In 1945 he had a fabulous completion percentage of .703. Two years later Baugh threw 354 passes, completed 210 of them for 2,938 yards, setting three alltime N.F.L. records in one season. As a quick-kicker, he had no peer; as a defensive player, in the days before the two-platoon system, Baugh once led the N.F.L. in interceptions. Almost since the day he entered the league, the big No. 33 on Baugh's back has been the biggest gate...
...player-coach this season, after three or four tentative attempts to retire, Baugh, now 38, was willing to turn the passing chores over to younger players. But in the opening game of the season, Coach Baugh knew that his understudy was not yet ready. Getting off the bench, Baugh put on a dazzling performance: eleven straight completions for two touchdowns and an upset victory for the Redskins over the Chicago Cardinals...