The NFL and particularly the Washington Redskins are still reeling from the news that Slingin’ Sammy Baugh, the greatest Redskin ever and one of the greatest NFL players ever, died earlier this week at 94 from liver failure and pneumonia. Michael Wilbon spoke to Steve Sabol, President of NFL Films, about the legendary Texan who taught the NFL that the forward pass was the future of football.
“I was 9 years old and my father [Ed Sabol, founder of NFL Films] took me to Shibe Park in Philadelphia to see the Eagles play the Redskins. It was 1951. My dad said: ‘See the man wearing Number 33? That’s Sammy Baugh.’ That’s all he said,” Steve Sabol said.
“It was like pointing out the Empire State Building, the Washington Monument or Niagara Falls. ‘That’s Sammy Baugh.’ That’s all that needed to be said to anyone who followed pro football in the 1940s and early 1950s.”
Sabol isn’t exaggerating one bit. The inaugural class of the Pro Football Hall of Fame, in 1963, included George Halas, Bronko Nagurski, Red Grange, Jim Thorpe, Ernie Nevers, Mel Hein, Curly Lambeau and Don Hutson among 17 charter members. And only Halas and Baugh were selected unanimously. The history of pro football simply cannot be written without the story of Slingin’ Sammy.
The nickname may have come from his prowess on the pitching mound, but it fit the way he would play the quarterback position. Benny Friedman threw the football down the field in 1928 for the NFL Detroit Wolverines and 1929 for the New York Giants, but Baugh was the first to play the position as we know it today. “Baugh demonstrated,” Sabol said, “that the forward pass could be an effective weapon instead of an act of desperation.”
Sabol, in poring over game film through the years, discovered something else about Baugh that was radical in the 1940s. “He was the first guy we ever saw on film who passed the ball on first down,” Sabol said. …
The only autograph Sabol has in his office at NFL Films is one from Baugh, on a Redskins helmet. Sabol has a deep fondness for pro football, but an unwavering objectivity when it comes to players and their contributions to the game. “When you’re talking about the greatest players ever,” he said, “you’ve got to start with Jim Brown. Jerry Rice is in that conversation. . . . So is Sammy Baugh.”
The forward pass is the most important part of football today and it was Sammy Baugh who demonstrated that this could be so. All football fans, not just Redskins fans, owe Slingin’ Sammy a debt of gratitude.
Post columnist Tom Boswell remembers Baugh as the man who made the Redskins what they are. And he contrasts Baugh’s work ethic with today’s burgundy and gold.
Sammy Baugh, a man whose face is almost completely forgotten but whose legend is still vivid generations after he retired, is the single star that created the Redskins brand.
When 90,000 people gather in FedEx Field on Sunday to see Washington play the Eagles, please think of Baugh, who died yesterday at 94, as the founder, the inspiration and the symbol of everything that is burgundy-and-gold.
The five world championship games, and two world titles, in ’37 and ’42, to which he led the Redskins began the NFL epidemic in Washington. Baugh is the root, everything else is branch, or more recently perhaps, twig.
For the current Redskins, who think they get the most out of themselves, this is perhaps all they need to know about Slingin’ Sammy and what was meant by the word “work” in the 1930s when he emerged: Baugh would not leave practice until he had completed 100 passes in a row. Now the Redskins nag “stars” to come to practice at all.
Ouch.
It’s no secret rookie WR Devin Thomas has been a disappointment, especially when compared to fellow rookie wideouts like Desean Jackson, Eddie Royal, and Donnie Avery, who have all made big contributions to other teams — and each of whom could have been taken by the Redskins instead of Devin Thomas. So what does Devin say about all this? Mostly, he just complains about how big the playbook is and how he hasn’t received as many opportunities as he did in college. Apparently, the guy doesn’t study and runs the wrong routes all the time.
DE Jason Taylor has been another disappointment. The Redskins traded a #2 in 2009 for him and spent $8 million on him. The return: 1.5 sacks. Jeez, what a waste. Taylor seems to realize it, too.
“I’m a realist. You can tell me the truth, and I’m fine with that. Because at the end of the day, most of us know the truth and some times some guys are just afraid to admit it, but I’m not worth 8 million dollars….You know what, I’ll tell you, I may not be worth 8 million dollars, but I know one thing, this dog can still hunt. This dog can still hunt. Put me in the right situation, the right position and I’ll hunt all day.”
He was also asked if he’d be surprised if ties were severed between him and the Skins in the offseason.
“Would I be surprised? No. If I’m not back, I wouldn’t be surprised,” he said, as the $8 million figure was brought up. “And I’m not worth it,” he said, “so I would not be surprised at all.”
My hope is that Taylor won’t be back. He’s done. He wants to be a star on TV or in movies and he’s finished with football. The only question is whether or not the Redskins are done paying him. I hope they are.
Want a bit of good news about the Redskins? Well, they seem to be healthier right now than they have been in weeks. Everyone on the active roster is practicing today apart from TB Clinton Portis, who plays by his own rules, as you know.
The one coach that I really like and want to keep long term is Greg Blache. The dude just knows what he’s doing and he’s managed to get a top 10 defense out of the crap that’s been handed to him by Snyderrato. Blache will start DeAngelo Hall and Shawn Springs at cornerback this weekend, will play S Kareem More after liking what he saw against Cincinnati, and my get more time for OLB Alfred Fincher, who impressed his coach filling in for the injured Rocky McIntosh last Sunday. Best of all…
Blache essentially said that asking for more sacks was tantamount to asking him to make apple juice out of lemons, given the lack of individual talent he has on the edges in terms of guys who are young and dynamic and can rush the passer.
If you don’t like Greg Blache, you don’t like football.
Meanwhile, CB Carlos Rogers is unhappy with not starting this Sunday and doesn’t know what’s up. Greg Blache is making no apologies.
Another CB, Fred Smoot, took only 7 snaps against the Bengals and isn’t happy about it. He wants to know why? Here’s a hint, Fred: You’re no good anymore. You give a 10-yard cushion to every wideout no matter what the situation and you still give up first down completions every time you’re in the game. Fred Smoot is one of those Redskins who should be playing somewhere else next season.
Let me hear an AMEN for this:
Let me get this straight. The Redskins charge their fans a ton for tickets and parking and everything else. Then Larry Michael goes on TV and lectures fans about selling tickets for profit to opponents’ fans while, at the same time, the owner profits from an arrangement to resell tickets on Stubhub? In this economy, people have to do whatever they can to hold onto those season tickets. Rather than sending Michael out to lecture fans, the team should realize how fortunate it is to still have them.
Considering the ramshackle way Snyderrato runs everything to do with the Redskins apart from the marketing, the team is lucky anyone shows up to games at all — apart from the fans of other teams. They’re getting pretty common at the stadium on game days. Perhaps Snyderrato should consider the implications of that.
John Keim goes down the list of Redskins who may be playing their final game at FedEx Field on Sunday. It’s a long list and it should be. Less than half of the players currently on the roster really deserve to be back.
Even getting a Redskins Hall of Fame built isn’t easy these days.
The Loudoun Board of Supervisors voted Thursday night to reconsider a deal with the Washington Redskins that could lead to the construction of the team’s Hall of Fame within the county. The board had rejected the proposal earlier this month.
Supervisors agreed to form a committee to investigate the feasibility of a marketing arrangement between the county and the team requiring $100,000 of tourism funds. An additional $150,000 at a later phase would go toward the potential creation of the Redskins Hall of Fame. The motion passed on a vote of 6 to 2, with one member absent.
Finally, we finish this Smoke Signals where we began it, with Sammy Baugh. The Fort Worth Star-Telegram editorializes about the great passer from Texas. Read it.
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