Money Adds No NFL Wallop, Sam Huff Says

Hall of Fame linebacker Sam Huff says NFL players don’t need to be offered money by coaches to knock opposing players out of games; they’ll do it on their own.

“The coaches might tell you who to look out for; they don’t tell you who to do it to,” the former New York Giants and Washington Redskins All-Pro said. “But the players aren’t stupid. They know that if they can get a guy like (49ers quarterback Joe) Montana out of the game with a good hit, it’ll only cost them 15 yards at the most.”

He said it is ridiculous that Coach Buddy Ryan of the Philadelphia Eagles would offer his players money to intentionally injure quarterback Troy Aikman and kicker Luis Zendejas of Dallas, as the Cowboys claim.

“If (kickers are) wearing pads and a helmet, then they should expect to get hit,” he said. “If they don’t, they should take off the pads and run around in a pink uniform.”

Huff, 6-foot-1, 230 pounds, had a knack for delivering knockout tackles to top opposing players. He recalled that players stood up for one another if an opposing team threatened a key player.

“The Eagles used to send three guys after (former Giants kicker Pat) Summerall,” Huff said. “We told them that if they did anything to him, we’d go after (quarterback and punter Norm) Van Brocklin and break his legs.”

Huff was the NFL Defensive Lineman of the Year in 1959 while he was with the Giants. He played for the Giants from 1956 to 1963 and for the Redskins from 1964 to 1967 and in 1969. His aggressive style and hard hitting helped lead his teams to six NFL title games and earned him five trips to the Pro Bowl.

Huff, 55, vice president for special markets with the Marriott Corp., said he is not bitter about the big salaries that players are paid.