Sammy Baugh Samuel Adrian " Slingin ' Sammy " Baugh ( March 17 , 1914 – December 17 , 2008 ) was an American football player and coach . He played college football for the Horned Frogs at Texas Christian University , where he was a two - time All - American . He then played in the National Football League for the Washington Redskins from 1937 to 1952 . He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in the 17 - member charter class of 1963 . Biography . Early life . Baugh was born on a farm near Temple , Texas , the second son of James , a worker on the Santa Fe Railroad , and Lucy Baugh . His parents later divorced and his mother raised the three children . When he was 16 , the family then moved to Sweetwater , Texas , and he attended Sweetwater High School . As the quarterback of his high school football team ( Sweetwater Mustangs ) , he would practice for hours throwing a football through a swinging automobile tire , often on the run . But apparently , Baugh would practice punting more than throwing . Baugh , however , really wanted to become a professional baseball player and almost received a scholarship to play at Washington State University . About a month before he started at Washington State , however , Baugh hurt his knee while sliding into second base during a game , and the scholarship fell through . College career . Football . After coach Dutch Meyer told him he could play three sports ( football , baseball , and basketball ) , Baugh attended Texas Christian University . While at Texas Christian , he threw 587 passes in his three varsity seasons for 39 touchdowns . Baugh was named an All - America in 1935 and 1936 . He also led TCU to two bowl game wins , a 3 – 2 victory over Louisiana State in the 1936 Sugar Bowl , and a 16 - 6 victory over Marquette in the first annual Cotton Bowl Classic in 1937 after which he was named MVP . He finished fourth in voting for the Heisman Trophy in 1936 . In the spring of his senior year , Redskins owner George Preston Marshall offered Baugh $ 4 , 000 to play with the franchise . Originally unsure about playing professional football ( coach Meyer offered him a job as the freshman coach and he still thought about playing professional baseball ) , he did not agree to the contract until after the College All - Star Game , where the team beat the Green Bay Packers 6 – 0 . Baseball . Baugh was also a baseball player at Texas Christian , where he played third base . It was during his time as a baseball player that he earned the nickname " Slingin ' Sammy " , which he got from a Texas sportswriter . After college , Sammy signed a contract with the St . Louis Cardinals and was sent to the minor leagues to play with the American Association Columbus Red Birds in Columbus , Ohio after being converted to shortstop . He was then sent to the International League ' s Rochester , New York Red Wings , St . Louis ' s other top farm club . While there he received little playing time behind starting shortstop Marty Marion and was unhappy with his prospects . He then turned to professional football . Professional career . As expected , Baugh was drafted in the first round ( sixth overall ) of the 1937 NFL Draft by the Washington Redskins , the same year the team moved from Boston . He signed a one - year contract with the Redskins and received $ 8 , 000 , making him the highest paid player on the team . He is credited for making the forward pass an integral part of the offensive play in the NFL . During his rookie season in 1937 , Baugh played quarterback , defensive back , and punter , set an NFL record for completions with 91 in 218 attempts and threw for a league - high 1 , 127 yards . He led the Redskins to the NFL Championship game against the Chicago Bears , where he finished 17 of 33 for 335 yards and his second - half touchdown passes of 55 , 78 and 33 yards gave Washington a 28 – 21 victory . His 335 passing yards remained the most ever in a playoff game by any rookie QB in NFL history until Russell Wilson broke the record in 2012 . The Redskins and Bears would meet three times in championship games between 1940 and 1943 . In the 1940 Championship game , the Bears recorded the most one - sided victory in NFL history , beating Washington 73 – 0 . After the game , Baugh was asked what would have happened if the Redskins ' first scoring drive had resulted in a touchdown . He shrugged and replied " What ? The score would have been 73 - 7 . " Baugh ' s heyday would come during World War II . In 1942 , Baugh and the Redskins won the East Conference with a 10 – 1 record . During the same season the Bears went 11 – 0 and outscored their opponents 376 – 84 . In the 1942 Championship game , Baugh threw a touchdown pass and kept the Bears in their own territory with some strong punts , including an 85 - yard quick kick , and Washington won 14 – 6 . Baugh was even more successful in 1943 and led the league in passing , punting ( 45 . 9 - yard average ) and interceptions ( 11 ) . One of Baugh ' s more memorable single performances during the season was when he threw four touchdown passes and intercepted four passes in a 42 – 20 victory over Detroit . The Redskins again made it to the championship game , but lost to the Bears 41 – 21 . During the game , Baugh suffered a concussion while tackling Bears quarterback Sid Luckman and had to leave . During the 1945 season , Baugh completed 128 of 182 passes for a 70 . 33 completion percentage , which was an NFL record then and remains the fourth best today ( to Ken Anderson , 70 . 55 in 1982 , and Drew Brees , 70 . 62 in 2009 ) , and 71 . 23 in 2011 ) . He threw 11 touchdown passes and only four interceptions . The Redskins again won the East Conference but lost 15 – 14 in the 1945 Championship game against the Cleveland Rams . The one - point margin of victory came under scrutiny because of a safety that occurred early in the game . In the first quarter , the Redskins had the ball at their own 5 - yard line . Dropping back into the end zone , Baugh threw to an open receiver , but the ball hit the goal post ( which at the time was on the goal line instead of at the back of the end zone ) and bounced back to the ground in the end zone . Under the rules at the time , this was ruled as a safety and thus gave the Rams a 2 – 0 lead . It was that safety that proved to be the margin of victory . Owner Marshall was so mad at the outcome that he became a major force in passing the following major rule change after the season : A forward pass that strikes the goal posts is automatically ruled incomplete . This later became known as the " Baugh / Marshall Rule " . One of Baugh ' s more memorable single performances came on " Sammy Baugh Day " on November 23 , 1947 . That day , the Washington D . C . Touchdown Club honored him at Griffith Stadium and gave him a station wagon . Against the Chicago Cardinals he passed for 355 yards and six touchdowns . That season , the Redskins finished 4 – 8 , but Baugh had career highs in completions ( 210 ) , attempts ( 354 ) , yards ( 2 , 938 ) and touchdown passes ( 25 ) , leading the league in all four categories . Baugh played for five more years — leading the league in completion percentage for the sixth and seventh times in 1948 and 1949 . He then retired after the 1952 season . In his final game , a 27 – 21 win over Philadelphia at Griffith Stadium , he played for several minutes before retiring to a prolonged standing ovation from the crowd . Baugh won a record - setting six NFL passing titles and earned first - team All - NFL honors seven times in his career . He completed 1 , 693 of 2 , 995 passes for 21 , 886 yards . Records . By the time he retired , Baugh set 13 NFL records in three player positions : quarterback , punter , and defensive back . He is considered one of the all - time great football players . He gave birth to the fanaticism of Redskins fans . As Michael Wilbon of " The Washington Post " says : " He brought not just victories but thrills and ignited Washington with a passion even the worst Redskins periods can barely diminish . " He was the first to play the position of quarterback as it is played today , the first to make of the forward pass an effective weapon rather than an " act of desperation " . He was the last surviving member of the inaugural class inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1963 , including Bronko Nagurski , Red Grange , Jim Thorpe , Curly Lambeau , Don Hutson , George Halas , Ernie Nevers , and Mel Hein . Two of his records as quarterback still stand : most seasons leading the league in passing ( six ; tied with Steve Young ) and most seasons leading the league with the lowest interception percentage ( five ) . He is also fourth in highest single - season completion percentage ( 70 . 33 ) , most seasons leading the league in yards gained ( four ) and most seasons leading the league in completion percentage ( seven ) . As a punter , Baugh retired with the NFL record for highest punting average in a career ( 45 . 1 yards ) , and is still second all - time ( Shane Lechler 46 . 5 yards ) , and has the best ( 51 . 4 in 1940 ) and fourth best ( 48 . 7 in 1941 ) season marks . As a defensive back , he was the first player in league history to intercept four passes in a game , and is the only player to lead the league in passing , punting , and interceptions in the same season . Baugh also led the league in punting from 1940 through 1943 . When comparing Baugh ' s athletic achievements with modern football greats , consider the actual football he threw then was rounder at the ends and fatter in the middle than the one used today , making it far more difficult to pass well ( or even to create a proper spiral ) . Coaching career . While playing for the Redskins , Baugh and teammate Wayne Millner were assistant coaches with The Catholic University of America ' s Cardinals , and went with them to the 1940 Sun Bowl . Baugh left Washington D . C . in 1952 . He chose not to return for Redskins team functions , despite repeated organization invitations . After his playing career , he became head coach at Hardin - Simmons University where he compiled a 23 – 28 record between 1955 and 1959 . Baugh was the first coach of the New York Titans of the American Football League in 1960 and 1961 . He was an assistant at the University of Tulsa in 1963 under head coach Glenn Dobbs . At Tulsa , he coached All - America n quarterback Jerry Rhome . In 1964 , Baugh coached the AFL ' s Houston Oilers and went 4 – 10 . Acting . Baugh also took up acting . In 1941 , he made $ 6 , 400 for starring in a 12 - week serial as a dark - haired Texas Ranger named Tom King . The serial , called " King of the Texas Rangers " , was released by Republic Studios . The episodes ran in theaters as Saturday matinees ; it also starred Duncan Renaldo , later famous as TV ' s Cisco Kid . Robert Duvall patterned the role of Gus McCrae in the television series " Lonesome Dove " after Baugh , particularly his arm movements , after visiting him at his home in Texas in 1988 . After football . After retiring from football altogether , Baugh and Edmonia Smith , his wife , moved to the ranch and had four boys and a girl . Edmonia died in 1990 , after 52 years of marriage to Baugh , who was her high school sweetheart . According to his son , Baugh derived far more pleasure from ranching than he ever had from football , saying that he enjoyed the game , but if he could live his life over again , he probably wouldn ' t play sports at all . Baugh ' s health began to decline after the death of his wife . During his last years , he lived in a nursing home in a little West Texas town not far from Double Mountain Ranch . The Double Mountain Ranch is now in the hands of Baugh ' s son David and is still a cow - calf operation , on . Death . The Associated Press quoted Baugh ' s son on December 17 , 2008 , saying Baugh had died after numerous health issues , including Alzheimer ' s Disease , at Fisher County Hospital in Rotan , Texas . He is interred at Belvieu Cemetery in Rotan . Honors and tributes . Baugh was the last surviving member of the 17 - member charter class of the Pro Football Hall of Fame . Additionally he was honored by the Redskins with the retirement of his jersey number , # 33 , the only number the team has officially retired . Hip - Hop artist Jay - Z wore Baugh ' s Mitchell & Ness 1947 Washington jersey in his 2002 video for the single " Girls , Girls , Girls " . This increased demand for the throwback jersey and renewed popular awareness of Baugh . Additional Honors :