Don Hutson

Football Player

• Born: January 13, 1913
• Birthplace: Pine Bluff, Arkansas
• Died: June 26, 1997
• Place of death: Rancho Mirage, California

Sport: Football

Early Life

Donald Montgomery Hutson, one of the greatest pass receivers in football history, was born on January 13, 1913, in Pine Bluff, Arkansas. The son of a conductor on the Cotton Belt Railroad, Don was a thin and shy boy whose main interest was raising pet snakes. He enjoyed playing basketball and baseball, but Don’s younger twin brothers, Raymond and Robert, were considered the better athletes in the Hutson family.

During Don’s senior year in high school, a close friend, Bob Seawell, who starred on the football team, persuaded Don to try out for the football squad. Don did so, and began developing the skills that made him a great pass receiver. He excelled as a high school football player, but colleges were more interested in Seawell. Eventually, Seawell agreed to attend the University of Alabama, on the condition that Don came with him. As a result, Alabama gave Don a scholarship too.

The Road to Excellence

At Alabama, Don developed slowly. At first, he looked so frail at 160 pounds that he was almost ignored by the football coach. However, his blinding speed—he ran the 100-yard dash in 9.7 seconds—impressed the coach. He played little in his freshman and sophomore years, but in his junior year in 1933, Don made the starting team and played more frequently.

By his senior year, Don had blossomed as a player and had become known as the “Alabama Antelope.” The Crimson Tide fielded a powerful team that year. Led by passer Millard “Dixie” Howell, the legendary Paul “Bear” Bryant at one end, and Don at the other end, Alabama won all nine of its games. The Howell-to-Hutson duo became famous. The team reached its peak in the postseason Rose Bowl game by beating Stanford 29-13. The game was Don’s finest hour as a collegiate player. He caught 6 passes for 165 yards and 2 touchdowns. He was chosen to the 1934 all-American team and is considered to this day to be one of Alabama’s greatest players. Don also excelled in baseball and track at Alabama. There were times when he ran in a track meet and played baseball on the same day.

The year 1935 was a major one in Don’s life. He graduated from Alabama, married his sweetheart Julia Richards, and signed contracts to play in two professional sports. Don signed with the football Green Bay Packers and the baseball Brooklyn Dodgers. Both contracts arrived in the office of NFL commissioner Joe Carr on the same day, but he upheld the Packers’ contract because it was postmarked seventeen minutes earlier than that of the Dodgers.

The Emerging Champion

Many doubted that Don, at 6 feet 1 inch and 178 pounds, could stand the pounding of professional football, but Don soon silenced the doubters. On the first play of his first NFL game, he caught an 83-yard touchdown pass to lead the Packers to a 7-0 victory over Green Bay’s archrivals the Chicago Bears. That was just the beginning. In his eleven seasons with the Packers, Don became one of the greatest pass receivers the game had ever seen.

Don outmaneuvered every defensive back who tried to cover him. Opposing teams assigned their fastest backs to cover him, but he seemed always to break free and catch a big pass. He was sometimes double- and triple-teamed, but again he would slip past the defense. George Halas, the coach of the Bears, once said that he conceded Don two touchdowns every time Chicago played the Packers.

Don led the NFL in receiving during eight of his eleven years. In all, he caught 488 passes for 7,991 yards and 99 touchdowns. A superb placekicker as well, he also led the league in scoring four times and finished with 823 career points. He was named to the all-NFL team an incredible nine times. Don also led the Packers to four Western Division titles and three NFL championships. His best year was 1942, when he caught 74 passes for 1,211 yards and 17 touchdowns.

Continuing the Story

With his big hands, great speed, and quick fakes, Don was a natural offensive end. He became football’s first split end. During a game against Brooklyn, Don lined up against an old teammate from Alabama. To move away from him, Don moved farther away from the ball on the line of scrimmage. Thus the split end was born. Don invented many faking and cutting moves that receivers still use today. Former Philadelphia Eagles football coach Alfred “Greasy” Neale once said that Don was the only man he ever saw who could run in three directions at one time.

Don also introduced the catcher’s squat for catching passes. He would run into the end zone, circle back just inside the goal line, and take a low pass from the quarterback. Another technique he used was to run toward the goalpost, grab it with one arm and swing himself around facing the play, and catch the ball with his other arm for a touchdown.

In addition to his offensive prowess, Don was a great defensive safety in the days when players played offense and defense. His coach, Curly Lambeau, said that Don never missed a tackle and saved as many touchdowns as he made.

In 1945, Don retired from football at the age of thirty-two. After retiring, he purchased a Chevrolet and Cadillac automobile agency in Racine, Wisconsin. He and his wife, Julia, had three daughters. He was later voted into the National Football Foundation and College Hall of Fame and the Pro Football Hall of Fame. He was also chosen to several modern all-time all-American teams.

Summary

Don Hutson was the forerunner of the wide receivers of today. He made pass-catching an exciting art, and introduced faking and cutting techniques that receivers still use. In his career, he set nineteen NFL records. What he lacked in bulk and strength Don made up for in speed and agility, to become one of the all-time great wide receivers.

Bibliography

Gulbrandsen, Don. The Green Bay Packers: The Complete Illustrated History. St. Paul, Minn.: Motorbooks International, 2007.

Sugar, Burt R. The One Hundred Greatest Athletes of All Time. New York: Citadel Press, 1995.

Walsh, Christopher J. Where Football Is King: A History of the SEC. Lanham, Md.: Taylor Trade, 2006.

Yaeger, Don, Sam Cunningham, and John Papadakis. Turning of the Tide: How One Game Changed the South. New York: Center Street, 2006.