Editing Cal Hubbard

{{Short description|American football player and coach, baseball umpire (1900–1977)}}
{{Use American English|date=April 2020}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2019}}
{{Infobox NFL biography
| image        = Cal Hubbard Football.jpg
| number       = 41, 39, 40, 38, 27, 51, 35, 60
| position     = [[Tackle (gridiron football position)|Tackle]]
| birth_date   = {{Birth date|1900|10|31}}
| birth_place  = [[Keytesville, Missouri]], U.S.
| death_date   = {{Death date and age|1977|10|17|1900|10|31}}
| death_place  = [[St. Petersburg, Florida]], U.S.
| height_ft    = 6
| height_in    = 2
| weight_lbs   = 253
| high_school  = Glasgow ([[Glasgow, Missouri]])
| college      = [[Centenary Gentlemen football|Centenary]] (1922–1924)<br>[[Geneva Golden Tornadoes football|Geneva]] (1925–1926)
| teams        =
* [[New York Giants]] ({{NFL Year|1927}}–{{NFL Year|1928}})
* [[Green Bay Packers]] ({{NFL Year|1929}}–{{NFL Year|1933}}, {{NFL Year|1935}})
* New York Giants ({{NFL Year|1936}})
* [[Pittsburgh Pirates (NFL)|Pittsburgh Pirates]] ({{NFL Year|1936}})
| pastcoaching =
* [[Texas A&M Aggies football|Texas A&M]] (1934)<br/>Line coach
* [[Geneva Golden Tornadoes football|Geneva]] (1942)<br/>Head coach
| highlights   =
* 4× [[NFL champion]] (1927, 1929–1931)
* 4× First-team [[All-Pro]] (1927, 1931–1933)
* [[NFL 1920s All-Decade Team]]
* [[National Football League 50th Anniversary All-Time Team|NFL 50th Anniversary All-Time Team]]
* [[NFL 75th Anniversary All-Time Team]]
* [[NFL 100th Anniversary All-Time Team]]
* [[Green Bay Packers Hall of Fame]]
*Grantland Rice's All-Time All-America
*Centenary College Athletic Hall of Fame
*[[Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame]]
*[[Missouri Sports Hall of Fame]]
*[[Baseball Hall of Fame]]
*Helms Foundation Hall of Fame
| pfr          = HubbCa20
| CollegeHOF   = 1344
| HOF          = robert-cal-hubbard
| statlabel1   = Games played
| statvalue1   = 105
| statlabel2   = Games started
| statvalue2   = 77
}}

'''Robert Calvin Hubbard''' (October 31, 1900 – October 17, 1977) was an American professional [[American football|football]] player and [[Major League Baseball]] (MLB) [[umpire (baseball)|umpire]]. After playing [[college football]] at [[Centenary College of Louisiana|Centenary College]] and [[Geneva College]], Hubbard played in the [[National Football League]] (NFL) between 1927 and 1936 for the [[New York Giants]], [[Green Bay Packers]] and [[Pittsburgh Pirates (NFL)|Pittsburgh Pirates]], playing the bulk of his career with the Packers.<ref name=Packers/> Hubbard is credited as being one of the inventors of the football position of [[linebacker]].<ref name="SI">{{cite magazine|url=http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1005598/index.htm|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130628231816/http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1005598/index.htm|url-status=dead|archive-date=June 28, 2013|title=Early Master:Cal Hubbard|last=Reed|first=William F.|date=September 5, 1994|magazine=Sports Illustrated|access-date=April 7, 2013}}</ref>

He was also an umpire in the [[American League]] (AL) from 1936 to 1951, then worked as an umpire supervisor until 1969. [[George Halas]] affectionately called Hubbard the "Big Umpire."<ref name=bigumpire/>

To date, Hubbard is the only person to be enshrined in both the [[Pro Football Hall of Fame]] and [[National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum|Baseball Hall of Fame]].  He is also a member of the [[College Football Hall of Fame]].

==Early life and college==
Cal Hubbard was born in [[Keytesville, Missouri]] to parents Robert P. and Sarah "Sallie" (Ford) Hubbard.<ref name=MSHS>{{cite web|url=http://shs.umsystem.edu/historicmissourians/name/h/hubbard/index.html|title=Robert Calvin Hubbard bio|publisher=The State Historical Society of Missouri via website|year=2013|access-date=April 5, 2013|archive-date=November 9, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121109022037/http://shs.umsystem.edu/historicmissourians/name/h/hubbard/index.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> He grew up in modest means as the son of a small family farmer. Cal graduated from Keytesville High School, but because the school had no football team he also attended one year at Glasgow High School in nearby [[Glasgow, Missouri|Glasgow]], which did offer football.<ref name=MSHS/> Already tall and weighing 200 pounds as a 14-year-old, Hubbard displayed natural athletic gifts. He aspired to attend the [[United States Military Academy]] at [[West Point, New York]]; however a physical discovered he had [[flat feet]], eliminating him from eligibility.<ref name=MSHS/>

From an early age Hubbard was involved with sports. He umpired pickup baseball games at the age of 18.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/5339554/cal_hubbard_dies_upi/|work=York Daily Record|page=15|date=October 18, 1977|title=Cal Hubbard, 76, Dies|access-date=May 21, 2016|via=[[Newspapers.com]]}} {{Open access}}</ref> Hubbard chose to attend a college or university that offered football, selecting [[Chillicothe Business College]] in [[Chillicothe, Missouri]]<ref name=MSHS/> while also continuing to work around his family farm.<ref name=SI/> A chance meeting in 1922 with [[Bo McMillin]], the new football coach at [[Centenary Gentlemen football|Centenary College]] in [[Shreveport, Louisiana]], led Hubbard to enroll and play football there from [[1922 Centenary Gentlemen football team|1922]] to [[1924 Centenary Gentlemen football team|1924]].<ref name=MSHS/> Hubbard was the school's first All-American.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.lasportshall.com/inductees/football/robert-cal-hubbard/?back=inductee|title=Robert|work=Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame}}</ref> [[Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets football|Georgia Tech]] coach [[William Alexander (coach)|Bill Alexander]] once watched Centenary when it was in town to play [[Oglethorpe Stormy Petrels football|Oglethorpe]]. "Bo, this Oglethorpe bunch has fast backs, but the line is light and green. If you turn that Hubbard loose, he might kill some of them. Have Cal 'hurt his knee', why don't you, and let him sit on the bench?"<ref>{{cite book|author=Edwin Pope|author-link=Edwin Pope|title=Football's Greatest Coaches|page=10}}</ref>

When McMillin moved on to suburban [[Pittsburgh]]'s [[Geneva Golden Tornadoes football|Geneva College]], Hubbard followed him and played there in [[1926 Geneva Golden Tornadoes football team|1926]] (after a year of ineligibility for switching schools in 1925). Geneva opened the season with an upset of [[1926 Harvard Crimson football team|Harvard]].<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/5341943/cal_hubard_chooses_pro_grid_team/|author=Henry McLemore|title=Cal Hubbard Chooses Star Pro Grid Team|page=15|date=April 26, 1937|access-date=May 22, 2016|via=[[Newspapers.com]]|work=Oshkosh Daily Northwestern}} {{Open access}}</ref>

In an era when 6-foot players were considered tall, Hubbard was noted for remarkable speed for a player of his size, listed officially at 6-foot-2, 253 pounds but as high as 6-foot-5 in Packers' sources.<ref name=Packers/> He starred as a [[defensive tackle|tackle]] and [[end (American football)|end]], playing off the 7-man line in a style similar to that of a modern [[linebacker]].<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ueY58Dlnn30C&pg=PA62|author=Richard Whittingham|title=What a Game They Played: An Inside Look at the Golden Era of Pro Football|date=January 2001|page=62|publisher=U of Nebraska Press |isbn=0803298196}}</ref> Hubbard completed his college education in 1927, earning a Bachelor of Arts degree from Geneva College.<ref name=MSHS/>

==Professional career==

===Football career===
Hubbard moved on to the [[National Football League]] in [[1927 NFL season|1927]], signing with the [[New York Giants]] for a salary of US$150 per game.<ref name=Packers/>  Playing alongside [[Steve Owen (American football)|Steve Owen]] his rookie year, he helped the Giants defense allow opponents to score just 20 total points all season as they won the league championship.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=q0ybG-yMQf0C&pg=PA19|title=New York Giant: The Complete Illustrated History|author=Lew Freedman|date=August 15, 2009|page=19|publisher=MVP Books |isbn=9781616731076}}</ref> For his efforts Hubbard won all-league honors by the press the following year.  But with a lifelong dislike for big cities, he didn't feel comfortable in New York and a 1928 road game in [[Green Bay, Wisconsin|Green Bay]] led him to request a trade to the [[Green Bay Packers|Packers]], threatening to retire otherwise.<ref name=Packers>{{cite web|url=http://www.packers.com/history/hall-of-famers/hubbard-cal.html|title=Biography: Cal Hubbard|publisher=Green Bay Packers Hall of Fame website|year=2013|access-date=April 7, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130625065611/http://www.packers.com/history/hall-of-famers/hubbard-cal.html|archive-date=June 25, 2013|url-status=dead}}</ref>

Under Packers coach [[Curly Lambeau]], Hubbard and the team won the NFL title in each of his first three years there (1929–1931). The 1929 team surrendered just 22 points. Lambeau had Hubbard play in the line, ending his "linebacker" days.<ref name=bythenumb>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=m9o2_k8zu4QC&pg=PA211|title=Packers by the Numbers|isbn=9781879483903|last1=Maxymuk|first1=John|year=2003|publisher=Big Earth }}</ref> The NFL named its first official All-League team in 1931 with Cal Hubbard being one of that inaugural list. He was chosen for the honor again in 1932 and 1933.<ref name=Packers/> [[Mel Hein]] said Hubbard was "probably the greatest tackle I ever played against."<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dRVMBAAAQBAJ&pg=PA183|title=We Are the Giants|page=183|author=Richard Wittingham|date=September 2014|publisher=Triumph Books |isbn=9781629370095}}</ref>

Once while playing the Chicago Bears with [[Ukrainians|Ukrainian]] fullback [[Bronko Nagurski]], the Bears prepared to punt. Hubbard went to the halfback [[Red Grange]] and said: "I promise not to try to block the kick, Red, but get out of the way so I can get a shot at that [[Polack]]." Grange, glad not to try to block Hubbard for once, obliged. Cal tore through the line, slammed into Nagurski and bounced off. Rising slowly, he turned to Grange and said: "Hey, Red, don't do me any more favors."<ref name=bigumpire>{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/5339533/cal_hubbard_obituary/|page=16|title=Cal Hubbard: 'Big Umpire' Was A Man For All Sports|author=Bob Broeg|newspaper=St. Louis Post-Dispatch |date=October 23, 1977|access-date=May 21, 2016|via=[[Newspapers.com]]}} {{Open access}}</ref>

Hubbard stepped away from professional football following the 1933 season, taking a job as the line coach at [[Texas A&M University|Texas A&M]] in 1934.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1870&dat=19760203&id=u00gAAAAIBAJ&sjid=jcoEAAAAIBAJ&pg=1213,871663&hl=en|work=Daytona Beach Sunday News-Journal|title=Cal Hubbard: First To Enter Two Halls of Fame|date=February 3, 1976}}</ref> However, he was persuaded to return to play after that one year on the sidelines, returning to Green Bay in 1935.  The Giants wooed him back to start 1936 with them, but he played only six games the entire season, five for the Giants and a final game for the [[Pittsburgh Pirates (NFL)|Pittsburgh Pirates]], the future Steelers.<ref name=Packers/> Hubbard returned to football coaching briefly, serving as head coach of his alma mater Geneva College in 1941 and 1942.<ref name=MSHS/> He was among the initial class of inductees to the [[Pro Football Hall of Fame]] in 1963. In a 1969 poll by the Hall of Fame committee, Hubbard was voted the NFL's greatest tackle of all time.<ref name=SI/>

===Baseball career===
{{Infobox baseball biography
|image=Cal Hubbard Bowman card.jpg
|caption=Hubbard's 1955 [[Bowman Gum|Bowman]] baseball card
|position= American League Umpire (1936–1951)
|hoflink = National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum
|hoftype = National
|hofdate=[[1976 Baseball Hall of Fame balloting|1976]]
|hofmethod=Veterans Committee
}}
Even while Hubbard's football career was going full-force, he began to focus on a second career in baseball officiating. From 1928 onward he spent his football off-season umpiring in [[minor league baseball]].<ref name=MSHS/> By 1936 Hubbard had been called up to the major leagues, umpiring in the [[American League]] from 1936 to 1951, a contemporary with the likes of [[Yogi Berra]].<ref name=bigumpire/> Soon recognized as one of the game's best officials, he was selected to work in the [[1938 World Series]], followed by Series appearances in [[1942 World Series|1942]], [[1946 World Series|1946]] and [[1949 World Series|1949]].<ref>{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=2002&dat=19771017&id=Tw4vAAAAIBAJ&sjid=3toFAAAAIBAJ&pg=1282,3478180&hl=en|title=A Legend dies|work=Beaver County Times|date=October 17, 1977}}</ref>  In addition, he umpired in the [[Major League Baseball All-Star Game|All-Star Game]] in [[1939 Major League Baseball All-Star Game|1939]], [[1944 Major League Baseball All-Star Game|1944]] and [[1949 Major League Baseball All-Star Game|1949]], behind the plate for half of the 1939 and 1944 midsummer classics.<ref name=mohof/>

Hubbard found the then-common practice of officials moving to different positions on the field during a game to be confusing and hampered accuracy when making calls. Applying his football experience to baseball, he devised a system where each official had clearly defined duties and also added an additional official to the crew.<ref name="Packers" /> This was the foundation on which MLB established new officiating standards in 1952.<ref name=mohof>{{cite web|url=http://mosportshalloffame.com/inductees/cal-hubbard-3/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160617082627/http://mosportshalloffame.com/inductees/cal-hubbard-3/|url-status=dead|archive-date=June 17, 2016|title=Cal Hubbard – Missouri Sports Hall of Fame|work=Missouri Sports Hall of Fame}}</ref>

While he was hunting during the 1951 off-season, a ricocheting pellet from a friend's shotgun blast accidentally struck Hubbard in the right eye.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://baseballhall.org/hof/hubbard-cal|title=Hubbard, Cal – Baseball Hall of Fame|work=Baseball Hall of Fame}}</ref> The damage was extensive enough to force his retirement from baseball officiating. However, the American League soon hired him as an assistant supervisor for league officiating crews, and in 1954 he became the top supervisor, a position he would hold until retiring for good in 1969.<ref name=MSHS/>

==Final years==
Never a fan of big cities, Hubbard had moved to [[Milan, Missouri]], in 1944.<ref>Source: Cal Hubbard Memorial Plaque, Sullivan County Courthouse grounds, Milan, Missouri.</ref> He left in 1945 but moved back in 1948 for good.<ref name=MSHS/> Milan was a small town much like his native Keytesville, which is about 50 miles to the south on [[Missouri Route 5]]. A lifelong avid fisherman and hunter, the rural areas of [[Sullivan County, Missouri|Sullivan]] and neighboring counties offered ample opportunity. Hubbard stayed involved in community affairs, especially children's sports, as much as his schedule would allow. In honor of his efforts the football field at Milan High School is named Cal Hubbard Field.<ref>{{cite web|last=Jordan|first=Ben|url=http://www.heartlandconnection.com/news/story.aspx?id=881411|title=Milan to hit gridiron on new field|publisher=KTVO TV via website|date=April 5, 2013|access-date=April 7, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150103235342/http://www.heartlandconnection.com/news/story.aspx?id=881411|archive-date=January 3, 2015|url-status=dead}}</ref>

Hubbard developed [[emphysema]] in the last few years of his life, so doctors suggested that he move away from the cold weather in Missouri. He relocated in 1976 to [[St. Petersburg, Florida]].<ref name=Double>{{cite news|last1=Barrickman|first1=Bob|title=Double play|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=2002&dat=20030116&id=ywJWAAAAIBAJ&sjid=-0ANAAAAIBAJ&pg=2699,3341476|access-date=January 3, 2015|work=[[The Beaver County Times]]|date=January 16, 2003}}</ref>  In recognition of his contributions to the game as an umpire and supervisor, Cal Hubbard was elected to the [[Baseball Hall of Fame]] in {{baseball year|1976}}, only the fifth umpire to be so honored up to that time.<ref name=MSHS/>

Hubbard died due to [[cancer]] October 17, 1977, in St. Petersburg. He is buried in the Oakwood Cemetery, Milan, Missouri. He was survived by wife Mildred and two sons, Dr. Robert Hubbard, and William "Bill" Hubbard.<ref name=Almanac>{{cite web|url=http://www.baseball-almanac.com/deaths/cal_hubbard_obituary.shtml|title=Cal Hubbard obituary|work=The New York Times|via=Baseball Almanac|date=October 18, 1977|access-date=April 6, 2013}}</ref>

==Awards and honors==
* Member, Missouri Sports Hall of Fame (inducted 1954)
* Charter Member, Pro Football Hall of Fame (inducted 1963)
* Member, College Football Hall of Fame (inducted 1962)
* Member, Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame (inducted 1965)
* Member, Helms Foundation Hall of Fame (inducted 1969)
* Member, Green Bay Packers Hall of Fame (inducted 1970)
* Named to All-Time All-Professional football team (1970)
* Member, National Baseball Hall of Fame (inducted 1976)
* Member, Beaver County Sports Hall of Fame (Beaver County, Pennsylvania) (inducted 1976)  
* Member, Centenary College Athletic Hall of Fame (inducted posthumously, 1990)
* Named to the [[Grantland Rice]] All-Time, All-American football team
* Cal Hubbard Field (football) at Milan High School in Milan, Missouri is named in his honor.
* Cal Hubbard Field (baseball) at Keytesville, Missouri High School is named in his honor.

==Head coaching record==
{{CFB Yearly Record Start | type = coach | team = | conf = | bowl = | poll = no }}
{{CFB Yearly Record Subhead
 | name      = [[Geneva Golden Tornadoes football|Geneva Covenanters]]
 | conf      = Independent
 | startyear = 1942
 | endyear   = single
}}
{{CFB Yearly Record Entry
 | championship = 
 | year         = [[1942 college football season|1942]]
 | name         = Geneva
 | overall      = 6–3
 | conference   = 
 | confstanding = 
 | bowlname     = 
 | bowloutcome  = 
 | bcsbowl      =
 | ranking      = no
 | ranking2     = no
}}
{{CFB Yearly Record Subtotal
 | name       = Geneva
 | overall    = 6–3
 | confrecord = 
}}
{{CFB Yearly Record End
 | overall  = 6–3
 | bowls    = no
 | poll     = no
 | polltype = 
 | legend   = no
}}

==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}

==External links==
{{Commons category}}
* {{Profootballhof|101}}
* {{College Football HoF|1344}}
* {{bbhof|hubbard-cal}}
* {{Footballstats |nfl=cal-hubbard |espn= |cbs= |yahoo= |si= |pfr=H/HubbCa20 |rotoworld= }}
* [http://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/H/Phubbc901.htm Retrosheet]
* {{Find a Grave|21213}}

{{Navboxes
| list1 =
{{Geneva Golden Tornadoes football coach navbox}}
{{1927 New York Giants}}
{{1929 Green Bay Packers}}
{{1930 Green Bay Packers}}
{{1931 Green Bay Packers}}
{{Green Bay Packers Hall of Fame}}
{{NFL1920s}}
{{NFL50}}
{{NFL100}}
{{1963 Football HOF}}
{{Pro Football Hall of Fame members}}
{{1976 Baseball HOF}}
{{Baseball Hall of Fame members}}
}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hubbard, Cal}}
[[Category:1900 births]]
[[Category:1977 deaths]]
[[Category:American football ends]]
[[Category:American football tackles]]
[[Category:American League umpires]]
[[Category:American shooting survivors]]
[[Category:Chillicothe Business College alumni]]
[[Category:Major League Baseball umpires]]
[[Category:Centenary Gentlemen football players]]
[[Category:Geneva Golden Tornadoes football coaches]]
[[Category:Geneva Golden Tornadoes football players]]
[[Category:Green Bay Packers players]]
[[Category:New York Giants players]]
[[Category:Pittsburgh Pirates (football) players]]
[[Category:Texas A&M Aggies football coaches]]
[[Category:College Football Hall of Fame inductees]]
[[Category:National Baseball Hall of Fame inductees]]
[[Category:Pro Football Hall of Fame inductees]]
[[Category:People from Keytesville, Missouri]]
[[Category:People from Sullivan County, Missouri]]
[[Category:Coaches of American football from Missouri]]
[[Category:Players of American football from Missouri]]
[[Category:Deaths from cancer in Florida]]
[[Category:Green Bay Packers Hall of Fame]]