Redskins owner George Preston Marshall, who drooled over Baugh’s talents, swiped him with the sixth overall pick in the 1937 draft. After throwing a touchdown pass in a 6-0 victory by the college all stars over the defending-champion Green Bay Packers, he signed with the Redskins for an NFL-high $8,000.
And from the first day of training camp in September 1937, Baugh was cool and confident. He was tossing passes when Redskins coach Ray Flaherty told him it’s easier for receivers to catch a ball thrown around their face, and that he should target the eye.
As the mythical story goes, the brash rookie nodded before asking, “Which eye, coach?”
Slingin’ Sammy found his mark. Playing tailback in the old single-wing formation, he completed 91 passes in 218 attempts for 1,127 yards as a rookie, all league-highs, and was named a first-team All-Pro. His 91 completions were an NFL record.
He broke with tradition that the pass was a desperation tactic reserved for 3rd-and-long and boldly threw on first and second down, and from punt formation.
Baugh showed how great he was in the 1937 NFL championship game.
He completed 17 of 34 passes for 352 yards and three touchdowns while willing his squad to a 28-21 win over the Bears.
In for every offensive and defensive play, he was crippled by game’s end after taking a beating on Wrigley Field’s frozen tundra. He received a standing ovation from Redskins and Bears fans alike upon leaving the field for the last time.
At that point, “Baugh slipped into football immortality,” Washington Evening Star sportswriter Francis Stan wrote on Dec. 13, 1937. “Eckersal and Thorpe, Cagle and Grange, Nagurski and the Four Horsemen, Oliphant and Hefflefinger...they moved over, these burly ghosts of the past, and made room for Slingin’ Sammy.
