Not many people these days know about Sammy Baugh, and that is a shame. He is most certainly the greatest NFL player of all time, but if you asked 100 NFL fans for the best NFL player ever, a majority wouldn't name him.
The sad thing is, if I didn't have the ties to TCU that I do (go Frogs) I'm not sure that I would know who he was either. Everyone knows of Babe Ruth, who revitalized baseball's offense by utilizing the homerun, but not nearly as many people know about Baugh, and he did the same thing for football by utilizing the forward pass. He pretty much made football into the game we know and love today and doesn't get near the credit he deserves for it.
In a time when the number of forward passes averaged about three per NFL game, he averaged about 7 completions per game. He still owns the Redskins record for most touchdown passes and he played 60 years ago.
But not only does he hold those distinctions as a quarterback, he also played on defense. At the same time. In fact, twice in his career he threw 4 touchdowns in a game in which he also caught 4 interceptions. To this day he is still third on the Redskins all time interception list, as in making interceptions, not throwing them.
Not only did he excel on offense and defense, but he was also a star punter. In fact, he still holds the NFL record for best punting average in a season. Still! No one has ever had a better punting season, and that was his third job on the team!
He was a member of the inaugural NFL Hall of Fame class, he led the Redskins to two NFL Championships (and played in 3 more), and he led the 1935 TCU Horned Frogs to one of only two National Championships (so far).
Oddly enough, his nickname of Slingin' wasn't given because of his propensity to throw the football when no one else did, but because of the velocity with which he threw a baseball, because he was also a star short stop and 3rd baseman for the TCU baseball team.
I wish that the NFL had done a better job of teaching their fans about this amazing athlete, because in all actuality, he should be to the NFL what Babe Ruth is to the MLB.
Rest in peace, Sammy, and may you play all three phases of the great game in the sky.
Go Frogs.
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