Sammy Baugh, 94. R.I.P.

[TommyBB]

The New York Times

December 18, 2008 Thursday
Late Edition - Final

Sammy Baugh, 94, Top Quarterback And Key Figure in Early N.F.L., Dies

BYLINE: By RICHARD GOLDSTEIN

SECTION: Section A; Column 0; Sports Desk; Pg. 36

LENGTH: 915 words

Sammy Baugh, the Washington Redskins quarterback who was one of football's greatest passers and a pivotal figure in transforming the National Football League from a plodding affair into a high-scoring spectacle, died Wednesday in Rotan, Tex. He was 94.

His death was confirmed by the Weathersbee-Ray Funeral Home of Rotan.

In the fall of 1937, Baugh joined the Redskins, who were newly arrived in Washington from their former home in Boston. N.F.L. players of that era butted leather helmets in largely dull encounters, the single- and double-wing offenses almost always running the ball.

Baugh had displayed his passing prowess as an all-American at Texas Christian University in Fort Worth. In his first season with the Redskins, Slingin' Sammy, as he would be known, provided a preview of football's modern era with his brilliant passing at tailback. He took Washington to the N.F.L. championship by throwing for three touchdowns in a 28-21 victory over the Chicago Bears in the title game on frozen turf at Wrigley Field.

Baugh played for 16 seasons with the Redskins, leading them to another N.F.L. championship -- again over the Bears -- in 1942, and five division titles. When he retired, he held all the major N.F.L. passing records. He was also a spectacular punter and an outstanding safety on defense.

In 1994, the N.F.L. named Baugh as one of four quarterbacks on its 75th-anniversary team. Baugh was among 17 inductees in the Pro Football Hall of Fame's inaugural class of 1963, and he was the last survivor of that group.

A lean 6 feet 2 inches and 180 pounds, Baugh grew up in two Texas towns -- Temple and Sweetwater -- but the Redskins promoted him at first as a rough-hewn rustic, insisting he wear a Stetson and cowboy boots when he met the news media. Baugh obliged, and he was given to chomping on cigars, chewing tobacco and using salty language. But the foremost image he projected was that of a passing wizard, No. 33 thrilling the fans at Washington's Griffith Stadium.

Baugh matched his finesse with toughness.

''One time there was a defensive lineman who was coming down on me with his fists closed,'' he once told The San Antonio Express-News. ''A couple of plays later, I found a play we could waste and I told our linemen to just let him come through.

''The guy got about five feet from me, and I hit him right in the forehead with the ball. He turned red and passed out. It scared the hell out of me.''

Samuel Adrian Baugh was born March 17, 1914, in Temple, but he completed high school in Sweetwater, where his father worked for the Santa Fe Railroad. Gaining renown for his passing, Baugh took Texas Christian to victories in the 1936 Sugar Bowl and the inaugural Cotton Bowl in 1937. He was also a strong-armed third baseman for T.C.U., prompting Flem Hall, sports editor of The Fort Worth Star-Telegram, to call him Slingin' Sammy, a takeoff on a radio performer named Singin' Sam. Baugh later played in the St. Louis Cardinals' minor league system.

The Redskins' owner, George Preston Marshall, picked Baugh in the first round of the 1936 N.F.L. draft, and Baugh soon became one of the biggest names in pro football history. He led the N.F.L. in average passing yards per game six times, and he threw 187 career touchdown passes and for 21,886 yards. He completed 70.33 percent of his passes in 1945, ranking second only to Ken Anderson's 70.55 percent, with the 1982 Cincinnati Bengals.

When Baugh emerged as a pro star, football was gaining a niche in popular culture. As Michael Oriard wrote in ''King Football,'' many nonfootball films of the 1930s introduced the heroes ''as football stars or former stars -- football simply as shorthand to establish their masculine character.''

Baugh became a part of that trend in 1941 when he starred in Republic Pictures' 12-episode serial ''King of the Texas Rangers.'' Playing a college football star named Tom King, who joins the rangers to avenge the death of his father, a ranger, at the hands of Nazi-like saboteurs with designs on the Texas oil fields, he pursued the villains on horseback, fought them with his fists and engaged in gun battles.

Although he had no acting experience, Baugh had been ranching in the off-season and knew his way around a saddle.

''Baugh is no threat to Olivier, but athletically he's perfect for the role of the ever-charging lawman,'' John Stanley wrote in The San Francisco Chronicle in 1992, recalling the Republic serial, Baugh's only acting venture.

Baugh remained a presence in the football world after his playing days. He was head coach at Hardin-Simmons University in Abilene, Tex., from 1955 to 1959, then coached the New York Titans, forerunners of the Jets, to 7-7 records in their first two seasons in the new American Football League. He coached the A.F.L.'s Houston Oilers to a 4-10 record in 1964 before retiring to his West Texas cattle ranch in Rotan.

For all of Baugh's exploits, a tale from his rookie season endures. It is evidently apocryphal, but its telling reflects the awe in which Baugh was held for his uncanny passing skills and self-confidence.

Baugh was taking the field for his first practice session with the Redskins when his coach, Ray Flaherty, handed him the football.

''They tell me you're quite a passer,'' Flaherty is said to have remarked.

''I reckon I can throw a little,'' Baugh replied.

''Show me,'' Flaherty said. ''Hit that receiver in the eye.''

To which Baugh supposedly responded, ''Which eye?''