Sam Huff, Pro Football Hall of Fame linebacker of 'unmatched ferocity,' dies at 87
Source: Washington Post
Obituaries
Sam Huff, Pro Football Hall of Fame linebacker of ‘unmatched ferocity,’ dies at 87
By Matt Schudel
Today at 5:01 p.m. EST
As one of football’s most feared middle linebackers of the 1950s and 1960s, Sam Huff of the New York Giants starred in one of the most thrilling championship games of all time and became the first defensive player to become a superstar in the National Football League. The Hall of Famer, who also played for Washington and spent more than 30 years as a broadcaster for the team, died Nov. 13 at a hospital in Winchester, Va. He was 87.
The death was announced by his daughter, Catherine Huff Myers. He had been diagnosed with dementia in 2013.
Mr. Huff, who grew up in a coal-mining camp in West Virginia, spent 13 years in the NFL as a menacing figure on defense, racing sideline-to-sideline to make tackles and intercept passes as he helped define the key position of middle linebacker. Wearing his familiar No. 70, the handsome, affable and fierce Mr. Huff acquired the visibility and fame previously reserved for quarterbacks, running backs and wide receivers.
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Mr. Huff was a marquee name in what has become known as the “Greatest Game Ever Played” — the 1958 NFL championship game, in which his Giants lost in sudden-death overtime to the Baltimore Colts, 23-17.
That game, which transfixed millions of television viewers, became a turning point in securing professional football’s long-term popularity on TV, ultimately making it the country’s top spectator sport.
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By Matt Schudel
Matt Schudel has been an obituary writer at The Washington Post since 2004. He previously worked for publications in Washington, New York, North Carolina and Florida. Twitter https://twitter.com/MattSchudel
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He benefited from playing in New York, with all the media coverage that entails. Which is not to say he wasn't a great linebacker, just that he was not quite as formidable as he was made out to be. Joe Schmidt, his contemporary, is usually considered the best middle linebacker of that era.
Sam was 6-1 and weighed 230. Man, there's cornerbacks bigger than that these days. 
-- Mal
