Playing an entire career without a facemack? That's how it went in Sammy Baugh's day.

When I heard the news my jaw dropped. I had been in the kitchen after watching every minute of the Celtics/Hawks and Hornets/Spurs doubleheader. I left the TV on and Sportscenter was playing in the background. I wasn’t really paying attention until I heard that a man who had once led the NFL in passing yards, punting, and interceptions in the same season was no longer with us. That’s when I slowly walked towards the TV and saw Karl Ravech with a picture over his shoulder. There was Sam, 33 on his chest, and the dates below his name: 1914-2008. I couldn’t prepare for this moment. I mean that literally.

I thought about writing a piece that I would run when the great “Slingin’ Sammy” Baugh left us for good. I told myself that I should be expecting his death. I told myself that because I had heard of his declining health for the fifth or sixth time now it might happen soon. I told myself that the legend deserved a piece that was written in days, not hours. I told myself I could do it.

I was wrong.

Sammy was a legend of DC.

When trying to put pen to paper (hey, this whole article is old school) I just couldn’t bring myself to do it. As you may have heard, the Washington Redskins have a complete stranglehold on the Maryland/DC/Virginia area. I’ve heard personalities on ESPN say that it is unparalleled in American sports for a major city. Here, nothing matters like the Redskins matter. My mother used to do her shopping during Redskins’ games because there was nobody at the stores, everyone was at home or at the game some way or another. The day Sean Taylor died this city came to a halt. There were people that asked me that day why everyone looked so sad. I told them what happened and they immediately understood. You don’t need to follow football here to understand. Today, Washington mourns the greatest Redskin and greatest football player of all time, Sam Baugh.

Let’s start at the beginning. Baugh grew up in Texas. While in high school he starred in basketball, baseball, and football. He is said to have created the idea of passing a football through a tire he hung from a tree in his yard. He perfected this by doing it while running. He acquired the nickname “Slingin’ Sammy” not from his quarterbacking skills, but from his baseball skills. Apparently his arm strength was incredible and on display with his throws from third to first. He wanted to play baseball and received a scholarship to play for Washington State. Fortunately for every football fan today, he hurt his knee sliding into second base and the scholarship fell through.

Sammy was a two-time All American at TCU.

Sammy went looking for anther school and chose Texas Christian University (TCU) because they told him that he would be allowed to play on the football, baseball, and basketball teams. His baseball stardom earned him a contract with the St. Louis Cardinals, but he eventually took up professional football after numerous prompts from then Redskin owner George Preston Marshall. His football career at TCU is legendary. He was a two-time All American and led TCU to two bowl wins; a 3-2 victory over LSU in the 1936 Sugar Bowl and a 16-6 victory over Marquette in the 1937 inaugural Cotton Bowl. He threw 38 touchdown passes in his senior season which was absolutely outrageous at the time. Before people saw Sammy through, the forward pass was seen as a risky play that was only used in desperation. Not the way he did it though. At the end of his college career he led the College All Star team to a 6-0 win over the Green Bay Packers and decided the NFL draft would be his next step.

Baugh was drafted 6th overall in the 1937 NFL draft. The team was in a transition period because they were moving to Washington in the coming year. The Redskins still decided to pay him $12,000 for the season, making him the highest paid player. He played quarterback, safety, and punter in his rookie year and led the NFL in passing attempts, completions, and yards. He led the Reskins to the NFL championship where they defeated the Chicago Bears 28-21 behind his 17/33 for 335 yards and 3 TDs (of 78, 55, and 33 yards). In 1942, the Redskins were 10-1 after losing to the Bears who were 11-0 and looking to finish the year undefeated. Not if Sammy had anything to do with it. He threw a touchdown pass and punted the hack out of the ball all day (including an 85-yarder) and kept the Bears at bay on defense as the Skins took another championship 14-6. The next season was his most famous though.

Sammy Baugh will live through his accomplishments and affect on today's game.

In 1943, Baugh led the the league in passing, interceptions, and punting. That’s the good kind of interceptions by the way. In a 42-20 victory over the Detroit Lions that season, Baugh threw four TDs and intercepted the ball four times as well. Needless to say, that feat is unmatched. He led the Redskins to the East Division championship in 1945 where he further changed the game. As the Redskins were on their 5 yard line, he dropped back into the endzone. He released a pass that hit the uprights (uprights were positioned on the goal line instead of at the back of the endzone at the time). At the time, an obscure rule called this a safety even though logic would dictate that it would be an incomplete pass. The Redskins lost by one point and the rule was changed the next season. His greatest game came on “Sammy Baugh Day” in Washington in 1947. On the day he was being honored he threw for six touchdowns and 355 yards against the Chicago Cardinals.

There's multitalented, and then there was Sam.

In 1945, Baugh completed %70 of his passes and is still one of only two men to pass that mark. In 1940, he had a punting average of 51.4 yards which is still an NFL record today. His career punting average is still 2nd best in NFL history. He is only one of two quarterbacks (the other is Steve Young) to lead the NFL in passing six times. He led the league in total yards four times. He had the lowest interception rate in five seasons. He was a nine time all-NFL selection.

After his retirement in 1952 he took up coaching and became the head coach of Hardin-Simmons University in Texas. He later took the job as the first coach of the New York Titans of the AFL (now the Jets of the NFL) and as the coach of the Houston Oilers. He decided that his coaching career was over in 1964 and retired to his ranch in Texas. Once he retired there he never left. Other than the trip to the nearby golf course he stayed on his ranch. The Redskins and the Hall of Fame repeatedly tried to get him to come to celebrations but he preferred to stay home. Daniel Snyder offered to land his jet on Sammy’s ranch if it would get him to come back to DC but Baugh declined the offer. Baugh’s 33 is the only officially retired number by the Redskins. About ten other numbers are unofficially retired. It just never seemed right to put anybody else in the same class as Sammy.

If you want to see him you have to go to Canton now.

Understand this: Sammy Baugh didn’t invent the forward pass, he popularized it. Without Sammy football may never have caught on in this country. Until he made the game more exciting, football was a second class sport. He invented the position that we know as quarterback. Before him, the QB was basically a running back who started with the ball. He was the last surviving member of the original football Hall of Famers. Some of the others in that class were Jim Thorpe, Bronko Nagurski, George Preston Marshall, Curly Lambeau, George Halas, Red Grange, and Dutch Clark. Baugh outlived them all.

Old? Sure. But he loved the new game.

Baugh said recently that his favorite thing to do was watch football. He wasn’t one of those guys who hated the new style.

“I’ll watch it all damn day long,” Baugh, who often sprinkled his conversation with mild obscenities, told The Associated Press in a 2002 interview. “I like the football they play. They got bigger boys, and they’ve also got these damn speed merchants that we didn’t have in those days. I’d love to be quarterback this day and time.”

Why he was the greatest football player should be self explanatory. He dominated on all three ends of the field. He truly was what athletes aspired to be. The way that he played was admired by all and will love on even though his time is finally up.

So Sammy, know that we miss you here in Washington and that the football world thanks you for everything you did. Without you, football wouldn’t be the same.

Note: This clip is NFL Network and has footage of everything to Sammy picking one off, to numerous TD passes, to punting, to modern interviews. It’s a must-see.

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