Ralph Martin Huff (December 19, 1948 – June 29, 2023) was an

American football American football, referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada and also known as gridiron football, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular American football field, field with goalposts at e ...

linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and typically line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and so back up the defensive linemen. They play closer to the line ...

. He played for the

University of Michigan The University of Michigan (U-M, U of M, or Michigan) is a public university, public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest institution of higher education in the state. The University of Mi ...

from 1968 to 1970. As a senior, he was selected as a first-team

All-American The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed on outstanding athletes in the United States who are considered to be among the best athletes in their respective sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an Al ...

by the

American Football Coaches Association The American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) is an association of over 11,000 American football coaches and staff on all levels. According to its constitution, some of the main goals of the American Football Coaches Association are to "mainta ...

(AFCA). After graduating from Michigan, Huff played professional football for the

San Francisco 49ers The San Francisco 49ers (also written as the San Francisco Forty-Niners and nicknamed the Niners) are a professional American football team based in the San Francisco Bay Area. The 49ers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member ...

(1972),

Edmonton Eskimos The Edmonton Elks are a professional Canadian football team based in Edmonton, Alberta. The club competes in the Canadian Football League (CFL) as a member of the league's West Division and plays their home games at Commonwealth Stadium. The E ...

(1973), and

Charlotte Hornets The Charlotte Hornets are an American professional basketball team based in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Hornets compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference. The team ...

(1974–1975).

Early years

Huff was born in

Houston, Texas Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...

, in 1948, but he grew up in the Old West End of

Toledo, Ohio Toledo ( ) is a city in Lucas County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. It is located at the western end of Lake Erie along the Maumee River. Toledo is the List of cities in Ohio, fourth-most populous city in Ohio and List of United Sta ...

. He was one of the five sons of Ralph and Martha Huff. Ralph Huff was an All-Indiana football player who attended

Indiana University Indiana University (IU) is a state university system, system of Public university, public universities in the U.S. state of Indiana. The system has two core campuses, five regional campuses, and two regional centers under the administration o ...

in the 1930s. Each of the five Huff sons played football at St. Francis de Sales High School in Toledo. Huff later recalled:

It was kind of crazy. I had two brothers who picked on me, but I had two other brothers to pick on. Dad was a pretty big guy, so we didn't mess around too much in the house. As far as football goes, Dad never forced the issue. If we didn't want to play, that was OK with him.

As a freshman at St. Francis de Sales, Huff was 6 feet, 2 inches tall, weighed 145 pounds, and had no intention to play football. He liked basketball, but the school's football coach, Dick Mattingly, persuaded Huff's brother to get Marty to try out for the team. Huff became a multi-sport star at St. Francis de Sales. He received two

varsity letter A varsity letter (or monogram) is an award earned in the United States for excellence in school activities. A varsity letter signifies that its recipient was a qualified varsity team member, awarded after a certain standard was met. A person who ...

s in basketball, four in track and three in football. In track, he won the City League discus and

shot put The shot put is a track-and-field event involving "putting" (throwing) a heavy spherical Ball (sports), ball—the ''shot''—as far as possible. For men, the sport has been a part of the Olympic Games, modern Olympics since their 1896 Summer Olym ...

championships and set a school record in the shot put with a throw of 59 feet, 2 inches. He played fullback for the St. Francis de Sales and, along with his brother Andy Huff (who later starred for Notre Dame), led the team to a City League championship and a 10–0 record in 1966. That same year, Huff also set the school's single season record with 1,191 rushing yards, a record that stood for 10 years.

University of Michigan

1967 season

Huff enrolled at the

on a football scholarship in 1967. He played fullback for the freshman team in 1967, but switched to linebacker in his sophomore year. He recalled the transition from fullback to linebacker as follows:

As a freshman you were there to be meat. One day in practice I'm playing fullback and, when I go out for a pass, this little linebacker named Dennis Morgan who had forearms like Popeye just about ripped my head off. Right then and there I said 'I want to be that guy, not this guy.' I had no problem switching to linebacker.

1968 season

As a sophomore, Huff made his

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

debut with the 1968 Michigan football team. In his first game for Michigan, a 31–10 victory over Duke in September 1968, Huff intercepted a pass and returned it 44 yards for a touchdown. He also accumulated 16 tackles and a fumble recovery in six games for the 1968 team.

1969 season

As a junior, Huff started at linebacker in all 11 games for the

1969 Michigan Wolverines football team The 1969 Michigan Wolverines football team was an American football team that represented the University of Michigan in the 1969 Big Ten Conference football season. In their first year under head coach Bo Schembechler, the Wolverines compiled an ...

. He also started three games for the offense, two at right tackle and one at left halfback. The 1969 team was the first Michigan team coached by

Bo Schembechler Glenn Edward "Bo" Schembechler Jr. ( ; April 1, 1929 – November 17, 2006) was an American college football player, coach, and athletics administrator. He served as the head football coach at Miami University from 1963 to 1968 and at the Univers ...

. In Schembechler's first game as head coach, Huff returned a blocked punt 31 yards for a touchdown in a 42–14 win against Vanderbilt. In an October 1969 game against

Purdue Purdue University is a public land-grant research university in West Lafayette, Indiana, United States, and the flagship campus of the Purdue University system. The university was founded in 1869 after Lafayette businessman John Purdue donat ...

, Huff intercepted three passes thrown by quarterback

Mike Phipps Michael Elston Phipps (born January 19, 1947) is an American former professional football player who was a quarterback for 12 seasons in the National Football League (NFL) during the 1970s and 1980s. Phipps played college football for the Purd ...

(later inducted into the

College Football Hall of Fame The College Football Hall of Fame is a hall of fame and interactive Tourist attraction, attraction devoted to college football, college American football. The National Football Foundation (NFF) founded the Hall in 1951 to immortalize the players ...

) to help Michigan win a close game, 31–30. In November 1969, the Wolverines upset

Ohio State The Ohio State University (Ohio State or OSU) is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio, United States. A member of the University System of Ohio, it was founded in 1870. It is one of the largest universities by enrollme ...

, 24–12. Huff had 10 tackles in the game and later recalled it as his college highlight. He said, "They were a powerhouse and nobody gave us a chance. I think we took them by surprise. We were psyched up, in control but high as a kite. Everything clicked for us." After the 1969 season, Huff was selected as a first-team All-

Big Ten Conference The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference, among others) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Fa ...

player by the ''

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''.

1970 season

Huff started all ten games at

middle linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and typically line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and so back up the defensive linemen. They play closer to the li ...

for the

1970 Michigan Wolverines football team The 1970 Michigan Wolverines football team was an American football team that represented the University of Michigan in the 1970 Big Ten Conference football season. In their second season under head coach Bo Schembechler, the Wolverines compiled ...

that finished the season with a 9–1 record. Huff had 124 tackles, 5 interceptions, 85 interception return yards, and 4 pass break-ups in 1970. After the 1970 season, Huff was selected as a first-team All-American by the

. He was also selected to play on the East All-Star team in the 1970

East–West Shrine Game East West (or East and West) may refer to: *East–West dichotomy, the contrast between Eastern and Western society or culture Arts and entertainment Books, journals and magazines *'' East, West'', an anthology of short stories written by Salm ...

Career statistics

In three years playing football at Michigan, Huff accumulated 266 tackles, nine pass interceptions, and 159 interception return yards.

Professional football

Huff was selected by the

in the 5th round (127th overall pick) of the

1971 NFL draft The 1971 NFL draft was held January 28–29, 1971, at the Belmont Plaza Hotel in New York City, New York. The Boston Patriots, who did not officially change their name to New England Patriots until after the draft, used the first overall pick ...

. He appeared in three games for the 49ers during the

1972 NFL season The 1972 NFL season was the 53rd regular season of the National Football League. The Miami Dolphins became the first (and to date the only) NFL team to finish a championship season undefeated and untied when they beat the Washington Redskins ...

. In September 1973, the 49ers traded Huff to the

Buffalo Bills The Buffalo Bills are a professional American football team based in the Buffalo–Niagara Falls metropolitan area. The Bills compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East div ...

. Huff opted to play for the

of the

Canadian Football League The Canadian Football League (CFL; , LCF) is a Professional gridiron football, professional Canadian football league in Canada. It comprises nine teams divided into two divisions, with four teams in the East Division (CFL), East Division and f ...

during the 1973 season. In September 1974, Huff signed to play for the New York Stars in the new

World Football League The World Football League (WFL) was an American football league that played one full season in 1974 in sports, 1974 and most of its second in 1975 in sports, 1975. Although the league's proclaimed ambition was to bring American football onto a w ...

. Huff stayed with the team when it moved to

Charlotte, North Carolina Charlotte ( ) is the List of municipalities in North Carolina, most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina and the county seat of Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, Mecklenburg County. The population was 874,579 at the 2020 United ...

, and became the

. He played for Charlotte in the 1974 and 1975 seasons. In April 1976, Huff signed with the

Washington Redskins The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East ...

, but he did not play in the 1976 NFL regular season.

Later years and family

In 1976, Huff moved to

Rock Hill, South Carolina Rock Hill is the most populous city in York County, South Carolina, United States, and the List of municipalities in South Carolina, 5th-most populous city in the state. It is also the 4th-most populous city of the Charlotte metropolitan area, be ...

, where he started a

stonemasonry Stonemasonry or stonecraft is the creation of buildings, structures, and sculpture using rock (geology), stone as the primary material. Stonemasonry is the craft of shaping and arranging stones, often together with Mortar (masonry), mortar ...

business. He remained in that business for 16 years. In 1992, Huff moved to

Temperance, Michigan Temperance is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Monroe County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 9,188 at the 2020 census. The CDP is located within Bedford Township. The community was established ...

, and became a supervisor at Toledo Molding & Die. Huff has a daughter and two sons from his first marriage. His youngest son, Ben Huff, played linebacker at Michigan from 1993 to 1997 and with the

Atlanta Falcons The Atlanta Falcons are a professional American football team based in Atlanta. The Falcons compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South division. The Falcons were founded o ...

from 1998 to 1999. Huff died in

, on June 29, 2023, at the age of 74.Ralph "Marty" Huff
/ref>

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Huff, Marty 1948 births 2023 deaths American football linebackers Canadian football linebackers Charlotte Hornets (WFL) players Michigan Wolverines football players Edmonton Elks players San Francisco 49ers players Players of American football from Toledo, Ohio Players of American football from Houston Players of Canadian football from Houston People from Temperance, Michigan Sportspeople from Monroe County, Michigan