Editing Sam Huff (section)

==Professional career==

===New York Giants===
Huff was [[NFL draft|drafted]] in the third round of the [[1956 NFL draft]] by the [[New York Giants]]. In [[National Football League Training Camp|training camp]], head coach [[Jim Lee Howell]] was having a hard time coming up with a position for Huff.<ref name=profootballhof>{{cite web | work=Pro Football Hall of Fame | url=http://www.profootballhof.com/hof/member.jsp?player_id=102 | title=Sam Huff's Pro Football HOF profile | access-date=June 30, 2008}}</ref>  Discouraged, Huff left camp, but was stopped at the airport by assistant (offensive) coach [[Vince Lombardi]], who coaxed him back to camp.<ref name=profootballhof />

Then, [[defensive coordinator]] [[Tom Landry]] came up with the new [[4–3 defense|4–3 defensive scheme]] that he thought would fit Huff perfectly.<ref name=varsityclub /><ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.cowboysplus.com/classic/webspecials/landry/landrybuild.htm | title=Building America's Team | publisher=Dallas Morning News | access-date=June 30, 2008 | archive-date=August 23, 2004 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040823190402/http://www.cowboysplus.com/classic/webspecials/landry/landrybuild.htm | url-status=usurped }}</ref>  The Giants switched him from the line to [[middle linebacker]] behind [[Ray Beck]].  Huff liked the position because he could keep his head up and use his superb peripheral vision to see the whole field.<ref name=violentworld />  On October 7, 1956, in a game against the [[Chicago Cardinals (NFL, 1920–59)|Chicago Cardinals]], Beck was injured and Huff was put into his first professional game. He then helped the Giants win five consecutive games<ref name=varsityclub /> and they finished with an 8–3–1 record, which gave them the Eastern Conference title.<ref name=violentworld />  New York went on to win the [[1956 NFL Championship Game]]<ref name=varsityclub /> and Huff became the first rookie middle linebacker to start an NFL championship game.<ref name=violentworld />
{{Quote box
 | quote  =''"Landry built the 4–3 defense around me.<br/>It revolutionized defense and opened the<br/>door for all the variations of zones and<br/>man-to-man coverage, which are used<br/>in conjunction with it today."''
 | source =Sam Huff, on [[Tom Landry]]'s 4–3 defense.<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.sportingnews.com/archives/landry/quotes.html | title = Describing 'The Innovator' | publisher = The Sporting News | access-date = 2008-06-30 | url-status = dead | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20051201115219/http://www.sportingnews.com/archives/landry/quotes.html | archive-date = 2005-12-01 }}</ref>
 | width  =200
 | align  =right
}}
In [[1958 NFL season|1958]], the Giants again won the East and Huff played in the [[1958 NFL Championship Game]].<ref name=violentworld /> The championship, which became widely known as "The Greatest Game Ever Played", was the first National Football League (NFL) game to go into [[sudden death (sport)|sudden death]] [[Overtime (sport)|overtime]].<ref>{{cite web | work=Pro Football Hall of Fame | url=http://www.profootballhof.com/history/release.jsp?release_id=1805 | title=Greatest game ever played | access-date=July 11, 2008 | archive-date=January 10, 2008 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080110235203/http://www.profootballhof.com/history/release.jsp?release_id=1805 | url-status=dead }}</ref>  The final score was [[Baltimore Colts]] 23, [[New York Giants]] 17.<ref name=violentworld />

In [[1959 NFL season|1959]], Huff and the Giants again went to the [[1959 NFL Championship Game|NFL Championship Game]], which ended in a 31–16 loss to the Colts. Also that year, Huff became the first NFL player to be featured on the cover of ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]'' magazine<ref name=wvu /><ref name=profootballhof /> on November 30, 1959. He almost passed up the magazine appearance, demanding money to be interviewed, but relented when ''Time'' agreed to give him the cover portrait.<ref name=violentworld />  Huff was also the subject of an October 31, 1960 [[CBS]] television special, "The Violent World of Sam Huff",<ref name=wvu /><ref name=profootballhof /> broadcast as an episode of the [[Walter Cronkite]]-hosted anthology series ''[[Twentieth Century (TV series)|The Twentieth Century]]''.  The network wired Huff for sound in practice and in an exhibition game.<ref name=violentworld />
{{Quote box
 | quote  =''"As long as I live, I will never<br/>forgive Allie Sherman for trading me."''
 | source =Sam Huff, on [[Allie Sherman]]'s decision<br/>to trade him to the [[Washington Redskins]].<ref name=violentworld />
 | width  =150
 | align  =left
}}
The Giants then visited the championship under new coach [[Allie Sherman]] in [[1961 NFL Championship Game|1961]], [[1962 NFL Championship Game|1962]], and [[1963 NFL Championship Game|1963]], but lost every one of them.<ref name=violentworld />  To improve what he thought was a defensive problem, Sherman then traded many defensive players, including [[Cliff Livingston]], [[Rosey Grier]], and [[Dick Modzelewski]]. After these trades, Huff went to owner [[Wellington Mara]] and was assured he would not be traded.<ref name=violentworld />  But in [[1964 NFL season|1964]], Giants head coach [[Allie Sherman]] traded Huff to the [[Washington Redskins]] for [[defensive tackle]] [[Andy Stynchula]] and [[running back]] [[Dick James (American football)|Dick James]].<ref name=violentworld /><ref name=varsityclub />  The trade made front-page news in [[New York City]] and was greeted with jeers from Giants fans, who crowded [[Yankee Stadium]] yelling "Huff-Huff-Huff-Huff."<ref name=varsityclub />

Huff played in four consecutive [[Pro Bowl]]s with the Giants from [[1959 NFL season|1959]] through [[1963 NFL season|1963]].  He was named most valuable player of the 1961 Pro Bowl.<ref name=varsityclub />

===Washington Redskins===
[[File:Sam huff redskins.jpg|thumb|150px|Huff with the Redskins]]
Huff joined the Redskins in [[1964 Washington Redskins season|1964]] and they agreed to pay him $30,000 in salary and $5,000 for scouting, compared to the $19,000 he would have made another year with New York.<ref name=violentworld />  The impact Huff had was almost immediate and the Redskins' defense was ranked second in the [[National Football League|NFL]] in [[1965 NFL season|1965]].<ref name=flashback>{{cite web | work=Washington Redskins | url=http://www.redskins.com/news/newsDetail.jsp?id=36423 | title=Flashback: Huff Changed the NFL Game | access-date=July 1, 2008 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080710113706/http://www.redskins.com/news/newsDetail.jsp?id=36423 <!-- Bot retrieved archive --> |archive-date = July 10, 2008}}</ref>

On November 27, 1966, Huff and the Redskins beat his former [[New York Giants|Giant]] teammates 72–41, in the highest-scoring game in league history.<ref name=flashback />  After an ankle injury in [[1967 NFL season|1967]] ended his streak of 150 straight games played<ref name=flashback /> Huff retired in [[1968 NFL season|1968]].<ref name=varsityclub />

[[Vince Lombardi]] talked Huff out of retirement in [[1969 NFL season|1969]] when he was named Washington's head coach.<ref name=varsityclub />  The Redskins went 7–5–2 and had their best season since [[1955 Washington Redskins season|1955]] (which kept Lombardi's record of never having coached a losing NFL team intact).<ref>{{cite web | work=Washington Redskins | url=http://www.redskins.com/team/history-history.jsp#1960 | title=Redskins History: 1960 | access-date=July 1, 2008 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080613202828/http://www.redskins.com/team/history-history.jsp#1960 <!-- Bot retrieved archive --> |archive-date = June 13, 2008}}</ref>  Huff then retired for good after 14 seasons and 30 career interceptions.<ref name=violentworld />  He spent one season coaching the Redskins' linebackers in [[1970 NFL season|1970]] following Lombardi's death from [[Colorectal cancer|colon cancer]].<ref name=flashback />