Slingin' Sam: The Life and Times of the Greatest Quarterback Ever to Play the Game

Joe Holley

Published by University of Texas Press 2012

Slingin' Sam

The Life and Times of the Greatest Quarterback Ever to Play the Game

Joe Holley
With contributions by: Peyton Manning

https://doi.org/10.7560/719859

Overview
Contents

About this book

Dan Jenkins calls him “the greatest quarterback who ever lived, college or pro.” Slingin’ Sammy Baugh, who played for TCU and the Washington Redskins, single-handedly revolutionized the game of football. While the pros still wore leather helmets and played the game more like rugby, Baugh’s ability to throw the ball with rifle-like accuracy made the forward pass a strategic weapon, not a desperation heave. Like Babe Ruth, who changed the very perception of how baseball is played, Slingin’ Sam transformed the notion of offense in football and how much yardage can be gained through the air. As the first modern quarterback, Baugh led the Redskins to five title games and two NFL championships, while leading the league in passing six times—a record that endures to this day—and in punting four times. In 1943, the triple-threat Baugh also scored a triple crown when he led the league in passing, punting, and interceptions.

Slingin’ Sam is the first major biography of this legendary quarterback, one of the first inductees into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Joe Holley traces the whole arc of Baugh’s life (1914–2008), from his small-town Texas roots to his college ball success as an All-American at TCU, his brief flirtation with professional baseball, and his stellar career with the Washington Redskins (1937–1952), as well as his later career coaching the New York Titans and Houston Oilers and ranching in West Texas. Through Holley’s vivid descriptions of close-fought games, Baugh comes alive both as the consummate all-around athlete who could play every minute of every game, on both offense and defense, and as an all-around good guy.

Author / Editor information

A longtime journalist who is currently politics editor for the Houston Chronicle, Joe Holley has been an award-winning editorial page editor and columnist for newspapers in San Diego and San Antonio, editor of the Texas Observer, frequent contributor to Texas Monthly, and staff writer for the Washington Post. His book My Mother’s Keeper: A Daughter's Memoir of Growing Up in the Shadow of Schizophrenia (coauthored with Tara Elgin Holley), won the Texas Institute of Letters Award for best book of nonfiction.

Reviews

A valuable contribution to football history.

— Booklist

Topics

Frontmatter Publicly Available Download PDF	i
CONTENTS Publicly Available Download PDF	vi
FOREWORD Peyton Manning Publicly Available Download PDF	ix
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Publicly Available Download PDF	xiii
PROLOGUE Publicly Available Download PDF	xv
INTRODUCTION Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	1
CHAPTER 1. Sam Baugh The Beginning Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	10
CHAPTER 2. Dutch Meyer Short, Safe, Sure Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	24
CHAPTER 3. 1934 The Baugh Era at TCU Begins Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	37
CHAPTER 4. 1935 That Championship Season Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	44
CHAPTER 5. George Preston Marshall Football Impresario Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	59
CHAPTER 6. Marshall’s Redskins Boston Born but D.C. Bound Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	68
CHAPTER 7. 1936 Baugh’s Senior Year at TCU Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	80
CHAPTER 8. 1937 Slingin’ Sam Chooses a Career Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	90
CHAPTER 9. The 1937 Season Baugh and the Redskins Debut in Washington Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	109
CHAPTER 10. The 1937 NFL Championship Slaying the Monsters of the Midway Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	125
CHAPTER 11. Cardinal Sam? Baugh Tries the Major Leagues Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	137
CHAPTER 12. The 1938 and 1939 Redskins Giant Victims Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	148
CHAPTER 13. The 1940 NFL Championship The Monsters’ Revenge Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	161
CHAPTER 14. Go West, Young Sam Hollywood Calling Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	173
CHAPTER 15. The Newest Thing under Heaven The Double Mountain Ranch Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	179
CHAPTER 16. 1941 A Lackluster Season and a Day of Infamy Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	184
CHAPTER 17. The 1942 Season Avenging 73–0 Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	193
CHAPTER 18. The 1943 Season A Baugh Trifecta and Another Championship Lost Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	202
CHAPTER 19. 1944 and 1945 Yet Another Missed Championship and the End of an Era Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	213
CHAPTER 20. The 1946 and 1947 Seasons The Dismal Years Begin Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	222
CHAPTER 21. 1948–1952 Last Years with the Redskins Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	229
CHAPTER 22. A Rancher Coaching Cowboys Baugh at Hardin-Simmons University Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	251
CHAPTER 23. Back to the Pros Coaching the Titans and the Oilers Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	260
CHAPTER 24. Ranching, Rodeoing, and Golfing Sam in Retirement Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	273
NOTES Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	285
BIBLIOGRAPHY Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	307
INDEX Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	311

Language: English
Publisher: University of Texas Press
Audience: General/trade;
Pages
- Main content: 368

eBook

Published: October 1, 2012
ISBN: 9780292742130