Sammy Baugh, charter member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame, turned 90 yesterday. Ben Domenech, one of the Web's premiere Redskins fans, has an appreciation:
To this day, Baugh's #33 jersey is the only one the Washington Redskins have officially retired. This is not to say that other players were not deserving - numbers like 7, 9, 28, 42, 43, 44, 49, and 81 are all off-limits. But it is to say that they cannot be on the same level as Baugh, no matter what they achieve. The game has changed since that old Redskin went back to Double Mountain Ranch, to home and family.Sam Baugh played his entire 16-year career without a face mask.
Sometimes it's hard for outsiders to understand why the Redskins mean so much to Washington, and how devotion to the team is the only single unifying factor for the entire community. But when the object of that affection is Sammy Baugh, I can only applaud.
