Strange But True: Lost in the Shuffle

“Slingin’ Sammy” Baugh was one of football’s finest passers. He was also a very fine punter. During his career with the Washington Redskins he set a record of 44.93 yards per punt, the best average in the league.

Then one day a rookie lineman named Bob Suffridge taught Baugh a lesson. Suffridge was an All-American at the University of Tennessee. He was drafted by the Philadelphia Eagles. And when the Eagles played the Redskins, he cramped Baugh’s style.

Three times Suffridge broke through the Redskins’ line and blocked punts by Sammy Baugh. It was a truly remarkable feat, but there were no headlines for Suffridge.

That game was played on December 7, 1941–Pearl Harbor Day. That was the day the Japanese destroyed most of America’s Pacific fleet, bringing the United States into World War II. The papers had much more important news to print.

From The Giant Book of More Strange But True Sports Stories by Howard Liss. Illustrations by Joe Mathieu.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sammy_Baugh

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bob_Suffridge

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1 Comment

  1. The Wikipedia article on Suffridge doesn’t specify the game, but the source for the article gives a timeline that suggests the Philly game.  Anyway, it seems that even though Suffridge had blocked three straight punts, he was called offsides on every one of them.  So, even if the game hadn’t taken place at that time, it’s unlikely that it would have made the sports pages anyway because the blocks didn’t count.

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