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| No. 41, 39, 40, 38, 27, 51, 35, 60 | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Position | Tackle | ||||||
| Personal information | |||||||
| Born | (1900-10-31)October 31, 1900 Keytesville, Missouri, U.S. | ||||||
| Died | October 17, 1977(1977-10-17) (aged 76) St. Petersburg, Florida, U.S. | ||||||
| Height | 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) | ||||||
| Weight | 253 lb (115 kg) | ||||||
| Career information | |||||||
| High school | Glasgow (Glasgow, Missouri) | ||||||
| College | Centenary (1922–1924) Geneva (1925–1926) | ||||||
| Career history | |||||||
Playing | |||||||
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Coaching | |||||||
| Awards and highlights | |||||||
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| Career statistics | |||||||
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Robert Calvin Hubbard (October 31, 1900 – October 17, 1977) was an American professionalfootball player andMajor League Baseball (MLB)umpire. After playingcollege football atCentenary College andGeneva College, Hubbard played in theNational Football League (NFL) between 1927 and 1936 for theNew York Giants,Green Bay Packers andPittsburgh Pirates, playing the bulk of his career with the Packers.[1] Hubbard is credited as being one of the inventors of the football position oflinebacker.[2]
He was also an umpire in theAmerican League (AL) from 1936 to 1951, then worked as an umpire supervisor until 1969.George Halas affectionately called Hubbard the "Big Umpire."[3]
To date, Hubbard is the only person to be enshrined in both thePro Football Hall of Fame andBaseball Hall of Fame. He is also a member of theCollege Football Hall of Fame.
Cal Hubbard was born inKeytesville, Missouri to parents Robert P. and Sarah "Sallie" (Ford) Hubbard.[4] He grew up in modest means as the son of a small family farmer. Cal graduated from Keytesville High School, but because the school had no football team he also attended one year at Glasgow High School in nearbyGlasgow, which did offer football.[4] Already tall and weighing 200 pounds as a 14-year-old, Hubbard displayed natural athletic gifts. He aspired to attend theUnited States Military Academy atWest Point, New York; however a physical discovered he hadflat feet, eliminating him from eligibility.[4]
From an early age Hubbard was involved with sports. He umpired pickup baseball games at the age of 18.[5] Hubbard chose to attend a college or university that offered football, selectingChillicothe Business College inChillicothe, Missouri[4] while also continuing to work around his family farm.[2] A chance meeting in 1922 withBo McMillin, the new football coach atCentenary College inShreveport, Louisiana, led Hubbard to enroll and play football there from1922 to1924.[4] Hubbard was the school's first All-American.[6]Georgia Tech coachBill Alexander once watched Centenary when it was in town to playOglethorpe. "Bo, this Oglethorpe bunch has fast backs, but the line is light and green. If you turn that Hubbard loose, he might kill some of them. Have Cal 'hurt his knee', why don't you, and let him sit on the bench?"[7]
When McMillin moved on to suburbanPittsburgh'sGeneva College, Hubbard followed him and played there in1926 (after a year of ineligibility for switching schools in 1925). Geneva opened the season with an upset ofHarvard.[8]
In an era when 6-foot players were considered tall, Hubbard was noted for remarkable speed for a player of his size, listed officially at 6-foot-2, 253 pounds but as high as 6-foot-5 in Packers' sources.[1] He starred as atackle andend, playing off the 7-man line in a style similar to that of a modernlinebacker.[9] Hubbard completed his college education in 1927, earning a Bachelor of Arts degree from Geneva College.[4]
Hubbard moved on to theNational Football League in1927, signing with theNew York Giants for a salary of US$150 per game.[1] Playing alongsideSteve Owen his rookie year, he helped the Giants defense allow opponents to score just 20 total points all season as they won the league championship.[10] For his efforts Hubbard won all-league honors by the press the following year. But with a lifelong dislike for big cities, he didn't feel comfortable in New York and a 1928 road game inGreen Bay led him to request a trade to thePackers, threatening to retire otherwise.[1]
Under Packers coachCurly Lambeau, Hubbard and the team won the NFL title in each of his first three years there (1929–1931). The 1929 team surrendered just 22 points. Lambeau had Hubbard play in the line, ending his "linebacker" days.[11] The NFL named its first official All-League team in 1931 with Cal Hubbard being one of that inaugural list. He was chosen for the honor again in 1932 and 1933.[1]Mel Hein said Hubbard was "probably the greatest tackle I ever played against."[12]
Once while playing the Chicago Bears withUkrainian fullbackBronko Nagurski, the Bears prepared to punt. Hubbard went to the halfbackRed Grange and said: "I promise not to try to block the kick, Red, but get out of the way so I can get a shot at thatPolack." Grange, glad not to try to block Hubbard for once, obliged. Cal tore through the line, slammed into Nagurski and bounced off. Rising slowly, he turned to Grange and said: "Hey, Red, don't do me any more favors."[3]
Hubbard stepped away from professional football following the 1933 season, taking a job as the line coach atTexas A&M in 1934.[13] However, he was persuaded to return to play after that one year on the sidelines, returning to Green Bay in 1935. The Giants wooed him back to start 1936 with them, but he played only six games the entire season, five for the Giants and a final game for thePittsburgh Pirates, the future Steelers.[1] Hubbard returned to football coaching briefly, serving as head coach of his alma mater Geneva College in 1941 and 1942.[4] He was among the initial class of inductees to thePro Football Hall of Fame in 1963. In a 1969 poll by the Hall of Fame committee, Hubbard was voted the NFL's greatest tackle of all time.[2]
| Cal Hubbard | |
|---|---|
 Hubbard's 1955Bowman baseball card | |
| American League Umpire (1936–1951) | |
| Member of the National | |
 Baseball Hall of Fame | |
| Induction | 1976 |
| Election method | Veterans Committee |
Even while Hubbard's football career was going full-force, he began to focus on a second career in baseball officiating. From 1928 onward he spent his football off-season umpiring inminor league baseball.[4] By 1936 Hubbard had been called up to the major leagues, umpiring in theAmerican League from 1936 to 1951, a contemporary with the likes ofYogi Berra.[3] Soon recognized as one of the game's best officials, he was selected to work in the1938 World Series, followed by Series appearances in1942,1946 and1949.[14] In addition, he umpired in theAll-Star Game in1939,1944 and1949, behind the plate for half of the 1939 and 1944 midsummer classics.[15]
Hubbard found the then-common practice of officials moving to different positions on the field during a game to be confusing and hampered accuracy when making calls. Applying his football experience to baseball, he devised a system where each official had clearly defined duties and also added an additional official to the crew.[1] This was the foundation on which MLB established new officiating standards in 1952.[15]
While he was hunting during the 1951 off-season, a ricocheting pellet from a friend's shotgun blast accidentally struck Hubbard in the right eye.[16] The damage was extensive enough to force his retirement from baseball officiating. However, the American League soon hired him as an assistant supervisor for league officiating crews, and in 1954 he became the top supervisor, a position he would hold until retiring for good in 1969.[4]
Never a fan of big cities, Hubbard had moved toMilan, Missouri, in 1944.[17] He left in 1945 but moved back in 1948 for good.[4] Milan was a small town much like his native Keytesville, which is about 50 miles to the south onMissouri Route 5. A lifelong avid fisherman and hunter, the rural areas ofSullivan and neighboring counties offered ample opportunity. Hubbard stayed involved in community affairs, especially children's sports, as much as his schedule would allow. In honor of his efforts the football field at Milan High School is named Cal Hubbard Field.[18]
Hubbard developedemphysema in the last few years of his life, so doctors suggested that he move away from the cold weather in Missouri. He relocated in 1976 toSt. Petersburg, Florida.[19] In recognition of his contributions to the game as an umpire and supervisor, Cal Hubbard was elected to theBaseball Hall of Fame in1976, only the fifth umpire to be so honored up to that time.[4]
Hubbard died due tocancer October 17, 1977, in St. Petersburg. He is buried in the Oakwood Cemetery, Milan, Missouri. He was survived by wife Mildred and two sons, Dr. Robert Hubbard, and William "Bill" Hubbard.[20]
| Year | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Bowl/playoffs | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Geneva Covenanters(Independent)(1942) | |||||||||
| 1942 | Geneva | 6–3 | |||||||
| Geneva: | 6–3 | ||||||||
| Total: | 6–3 | ||||||||
