No. 70
West Virginia
"Considered No. 1 among all NFL middle linebackers, Sam was a unanimous All-Pro in 1958 and '59 and is perhaps the fiercest of all tacklers. Rough, fast, intelligent and durable, he's the darling of Giant fans who cheer the defensive unit. He became a regular as a rookie in '56.
Born in Edna Gap, West Virginia, Sam was an All-American for four years at West Virginia."
-1960 Pro Football Handbook
WHERE THE BALL IS, HUFF'S SURE TO GO King of the Defense in the Pro Game Today is 'Smiling Sam' of the Toughest Unit of Them All- the New York Giants
"As a coach said last year, 'Defense has become a game of chess.' And the king of the board in pro football is Robert Lee Huff of the Giants, otherwise known as 'Smiling Sam.'
In the peculiar defensive setup prevalent in the NFL, the middle guard is the man who moves in any direction, and the most valuable middle guard is the one who happens to move infallibly in the direction of the ball. There was a time when Joe Schmidt of the Lions was unchallenged as the finest defensive player in the game. Today Huff holds that honor, though Schmidt's abilities are in no way impaired.
Huff came to football via a little West Virginia coal mining camp called Edna Gas, where he was born 26 years ago. It was so remote that only Pappy Lewis, the Mountaineer coach, got up there to see him play tackle for Farmington High School. 'Even then,' recalls Pappy, 'he was roamin' all over the field looking to knock people down.'
So Sam (he was never called Robert Lee) went to West Virginia. In the same class was a Tarzanesque young fellow named Bruce Bosley, who also played tackle. For three years Bosley got all the publicity while Sam plugged on, helping the team get to the Sugar Bowl. But his talents began to attract attention, and the Giants made Huff their third draft choice.
They had no intention of playing him at tackle. He doesn't fit the classic pattern either in height (6-1) or weight (250). He wasn't big enough to play defensive tackle (in goal-line situations when all men have to move up front, the Giants still yank him from the field and insert Rosey Brown). Despite his lateral mobility, there was some doubt he had the sheer speed to get out ahead of the ball carrier as an offensive guard. His all-around skills were so obvious that he had to make the team, but the first few games of the 1956 season he was just a general utility man, playing on the kamikaze (kickoff and punt) squads. In the third game Ray Beck, then the middle guard, got hurt and Tom Landry threw Sam into the game.
Right then the Giants began to jell as the greatest defensive team in football. Beck was versatile enough to play offensive guard; there was no budging Huff, who was molded to the new job. In the very first game he won a watch as the most valuable player on defense. Sam received so many of those watches that he finally asked if they couldn't substitute a ladies' watch one week- for his wife. This was BEFORE the game.
Huff is a brash believer in himself, and he's an intense competitor- which is a nice way of saying he plays rough and for keeps. But Sam learned the hard way that there's only one place on the field for a player- on top of the pile. One time he was standing by, admiring the spectacle of bodies entangled in combat, when 'Bob St. Clair of the Forty Niners blind-sided me and like to cut me in half.'"
-Murray Olderman, Sports All-Stars 1960 Pro Football
"Sam is a 'Deadeye Dick' when it comes to recovering fumbles. Last season he picked one up and ran for an important score. Many regard Sam as the finest linebacker in the game, due to the number of tackles he makes per game."
-1960 Topps No. 80
"In four years with the Giants, Sam Huff (70) has earned acclaim as the N.F.L.'s top middle linebacker. The deceptively roly-poly 230-pound West Virginia graduate, a college tackle, has uncanny play perception and the speed to range from sideline to sideline. The containing jobs he has done on Jim Brown, Alan Ameche and Rick Casares have been classics."
-1960 New York Giants Official Program (Yankee Stadium)
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