Samuel George Hurd III (born April 24, 1985) is an American former professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

wide receiver A wide receiver (WR), also referred to as a wideout, and historically known as a split end (SE) or flanker (FL), is an eligible receiver in gridiron football. A key skill position of the offense (American football), offense, WR gets its name ...

and convicted

drug dealer A drug is any chemical substance other than a nutrient or an essential dietary ingredient, which, when administered to a living organism, produces a biological effect. Consumption of drugs can be via inhalation, injection, smoking, ingestio ...

. He played in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

(NFL) for the

Dallas Cowboys The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football team based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The Cowboys compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. T ...

and

Chicago Bears The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago. The Bears compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. They are one of two remaining ...

. He played

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 ...

Northern Illinois University Northern Illinois University (NIU) is a public research university in DeKalb, Illinois, United States. It was founded as "Northern Illinois State Normal School" in 1895 by Illinois Governor John P. Altgeld, initially to provide the state with c ...

Early life

Hurd attended Brackenridge High School in San Antonio, Texas, where he practiced football,

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

and track. As a senior

, he posted 60 receptions for 1,639 yards and 23

touchdown A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Scoring a touchdown grants the team that scored it 6 points. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchd ...

s, receiving All-state honors.

College career

Hurd accepted a football scholarship from

. As a true freshman, he appeared in 12 games (2 starts), collecting 22 receptions for 512 yards and 3

s. As a sophomore, he registered 29 receptions for 438 yards and 2

s in 12 games (7 starts). As a junior, he appeared in 10 games, making 27 receptions for 298 yards and 3

s. He helped NIU to a victory in the 2004 Silicon Valley Football Classic in a game that was delayed nearly 40 minutes due to a power outage. A strong running offense limited Hurd's receiving stats until his senior year, when he registered 65 receptions for 1,074 yards, and 13

s (second best in school history). He also had the best receiving game in school history with 266 yards against

Central Michigan University Central Michigan University (CMU) is a Public university, public research university in Mount Pleasant, Michigan, United States. It was established in 1892 as a private normal school and became a state institution in 1895. CMU is one of the eigh ...

. He teamed with P. J. Fleck, Shatone Powers, and Dan Sheldon to form one of the best

groups in the MAC. Hurd finished his college career with 143 receptions (tied for fifth in school history), 2,323 yards (second in school history), and 21 receiving

s (third in school history).

Professional career

Dallas Cowboys

Hurd was signed as an

undrafted free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player or manager who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under a contract at present ...

by the

after the

2006 NFL draft The 2006 NFL draft, the 71st in league history, took place in New York City, New York, at Radio City Music Hall on April 29 and April 30, 2006. For the 27th consecutive year, the draft was telecast on ESPN and ESPN2, with additional coverage offe ...

on May 1. He recorded his first NFL reception on Tony Romo's first NFL pass (33 yards) against the

Houston Texans The Houston Texans are a professional American football team based in Houston. The Texans compete in the National Football League as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division. The team plays its home games at N ...

. Four weeks later, he got his first start against the

Arizona Cardinals The Arizona Cardinals are a professional American football team based in the Phoenix metropolitan area. The Cardinals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC West, West division. The ...

, recording four catches for 42 yards and also caught a

pass that was negated due to offensive pass interference against Patrick Crayton. He ended the season with 5 catches for 75 yards 16

special teams In American football, the specific role that a player takes on the field is referred to as their position. Under the modern rules of American football, both teams are allowed 11 players on the field at one time and have "unlimited free substitu ...

tackles (tied for second on the team), one forced fumble and one fumble recovery. In

2007 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...

, he was the team's third receiver, tallying 19 receptions for 314 yards, one

and 16

tackles (sixth on the team). In

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

, after the release of Terry Glenn, Hurd was given the opportunity to start opposite to Terrell Owens, but suffered a high left-ankle sprain in preseason that caused him to miss the first three games of the season. He returned to play in three games, before re-injuring his ankle and being placed on the

injured reserve list The injured reserve list ( IR list) is a designation used in North American professional sports leagues for athletes who suffer injuries and become unable to play. The exact name of the list varies by league; it is known as "injured reserve" in t ...

on October 16. He finished with one

tackle. In

2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...

, he led the Cowboys with 19

tackles. In

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

, he was named special teams captain, finishing the season second on the team with 21 tackles. During his time with the Cowboys he had some great training camp performances, but he never developed as a consistent

. His contributions came mainly as a key special teams performer, earning NFC Special Teams Player of the Week in

2006 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...

as a rookie.

Chicago Bears

On July 29,

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

, he signed a three-year contract as a

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player or manager who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under a contract at present ...

with the

. The Bears named Hurd their

captain, but cut him from the team on December 16, following his arrest on drug-related charges.

Personal life

In 2007, Hurd started co-hosting ''Inside the Huddle,'' a one-hour player commentary show that aired live on 105.3 FM radio in

Dallas Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...

, as well as a 30-minute television show on Time Warner Cable's ESPN2 and Video on Demand service. It was originally co-hosted by

quarterback The quarterback (QB) is a position in gridiron football who are members of the offensive side of the ball and mostly line up directly behind the Lineman (football), offensive line. In modern American football, the quarterback is usually consider ...

Tony Romo, but in 2008, Hurd teamed up with wide receiver Terrell Owens for the show that aired on Tuesday nights on KLLI from the

House of Blues House of Blues is an American chain of live music concert halls and restaurants. It was founded by Isaac Tigrett, the co-founder of Hard Rock Cafe, and Dan Aykroyd, co-star of the 1980 film ''The Blues Brothers (film), The Blues Brothers''. The ...

in Dallas. Hurd ran a program called "Running with the Hurd", which is aimed at helping underprivileged young children.

Arrest and incarceration

On December 14, 2011, Hurd was arrested in Chicago for allegedly attempting to purchase and distribute large quantities of

cocaine Cocaine is a tropane alkaloid and central nervous system stimulant, derived primarily from the leaves of two South American coca plants, ''Erythroxylum coca'' and ''Erythroxylum novogranatense, E. novogranatense'', which are cultivated a ...

and

marijuana Cannabis (), commonly known as marijuana (), weed, pot, and ganja, List of slang names for cannabis, among other names, is a non-chemically uniform psychoactive drug from the ''Cannabis'' plant. Native to Central or South Asia, cannabis has ...

, and faced federal drug charges in the Dallas Division of the Northern District of Texas. The case was investigated by the

ICE Ice is water that is frozen into a solid state, typically forming at or below temperatures of 0 ° C, 32 ° F, or 273.15 K. It occurs naturally on Earth, on other planets, in Oort cloud objects, and as interstellar ice. As a naturally oc ...

(U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement). The investigation started in July 2011, during the NFL lockout, and while Hurd was a member of the Bears. The complaint alleged Hurd had negotiated to pay $25,000 per kilogram of cocaine, and another of marijuana. Police believed Hurd was connected to a group of dealers arrested in California in August 2011, because a phone number traced to Hurd was found in the

caller ID Caller identification (Caller ID) is a telephone service, available in analog and digital telephone systems, including voice over IP (VoIP), that transmits a caller's telephone number to the called party's telephone equipment when the call is ...

of one of the dealers. On January 24, after finding a new attorney, Hurd entered a plea of not guilty for setting up a drug-dealing network. On August 9, 2012, Hurd was arrested again for violating his bond by failing two drug tests. The report stated Hurd failed his first drug test in May and a second on July 12, testing positive for marijuana and admitting to drug use both times. His attorney, Jay Ethington, said Hurd was going through a difficult time and succumbed to pressure, according to the report. A federal judge later ordered Hurd to be jailed indefinitely. On April 10, 2013, Hurd announced he would change his plea to guilty the following day. He faced a sentence of 10 years to life. On November 13, 2013, Hurd was sentenced to 15 years in prison. Hurd was incarcerated at the Federal Correctional Institution in Bastrop, Texas. He was released from federal prison to community confinement on January 31, 2023. He was discharged from his sentence on February 23, 2023.

References

External links

Breaking Real Bad: Inside the Sam Hurd Drug Case
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hurd, Sam 1985 births Living people Players of American football from San Antonio American football wide receivers Northern Illinois Huskies football players Dallas Cowboys players Chicago Bears players American drug traffickers Prisoners and detainees of the United States federal government American people convicted of drug offenses American sportspeople convicted of crimes Brackenridge High School alumni