Sammy Baugh Biography - Discovers Sports In Temple, Texas, Moves To Sweetwater, Texas, Recruited For College Career At Tcu
football american league record
1914-
American football player
Sammy Baugh
The first superstar passer in college football, Sammy Baugh held every National Football League (NFL) passing record and was chosen for the charter classes of both the college (1951) and professional (1963) football halls of fame. Many of his records stood for fifty years and others will never be broken. The college All-American became a six-time NFL All-Pro. He coached college football and was the first head coach of the American Football League's (AFL) New York Titans (now the New York Jets).
Samuel Adrian Baugh was born March 17, 1914 on a farm outside Temple, Texas, a town of 10,000 people halfway between Austin and Waco. Recruited to play baseball at Texas Christian University (TCU), his coaches saw raw athletic talent when he tried out for football in the off-season. Nicknamed "Slinging Sammy" because of his rifle accuracy passing skills, he went on to break every record in Southwest Conference football (1934-1936) and play professional football for the Washington Redskins (1937-1952).
Additional Topics
In 1933, Meyer recruited Baugh to TCU to play baseball. When Meyer became the TCU football coach in 1934, he recruited Baugh to play as a single-wing tail-back. By the end of the season, which TCU finished 8-4, Meyer saw Baugh's leadership with the team and moved him to a T-formation quarterback. College quarterbacks handed the ball to running backs who advanced the ball. In 1935, TCU went …
In 1936, the Horn Frogs played LSU in the Sugar Bowl in New Orleans. In a cold New Years Day fog, TCU won the game 3-2. Even though he was unable to score an offensive touchdown, Baugh intercepted two LSU passes and made a spectacular forty-four yard run across the icy field to set up a field goal. He punted the ball fourteen times with a forty-eight yard average. He was named an All-Southwest Con…
Selected by the Washington Redskins in the first round of the 1937 college football draft, Baugh felt he would warm the bench. There were no passing quarterbacks in pro football and he doubted any team would take a chance with him. When baseball scout, Rogers Hornsby, came calling, Baugh signed on to play third base for the St. Louis Cardinals. The Cardinals changed him to shortstop and sent him t…
Ki Aldrich watched Baugh play junior high school football from the sidelines in Temple, Texas. Later Aldrich became Baugh's college and professional football teammate. He gained fame after a college career at TCU and as a first round draft pick by the Chicago Cardinals. He went on to play for the Cards in 1939 and 1940. In 1941 he joined Baugh and played professionally two seasons for the W…
After leaving the Redskins, Baugh coached college and professional football. He was elected to the College Football Fall of Fame in 1951. In 1952, he became an assistant coach at Hardin-Simmons University in Abilene (TX) to be near his beloved Double Mountain Ranch in Rotan, Texas, eighty miles away. He became the head coach in 1955. During his four year stint Hardin-Simmons claimed a 23-28 record…
Baugh's college football feats had not been forgotten. In 1993 Texas Christian University retired his Number 45 jersey and in 1999 he was elected to the Cotton Bowl Hall of Fame in 1999. The Touchdown Club of Columbus, Ohio annually honors the best passing quarterback in college football with the Sammy Baugh Trophy. During the last forty-two years, winners include Duante Culpepper (1998), S…
Citing this material
Please include a link to this page if you have found this material useful for research or writing a related article. Content on this website is from high-quality, licensed material originally published in print form. You can always be sure you're reading unbiased, factual, and accurate information.
Highlight the text below, right-click, and select “copy”. Paste the link into your website, email, or any other HTML document.
User Comments