SUPER BOWL XXI : DENVER vs. NEW YORK GIANTS : To Huff, Old Giants Beyond Compare : Hall of Famer Points to Changes in Today’s Game and Linebackers

It has been more than 30 years since the New York Giants won a National Football League title, but Sam Huff remembers.

He was the rookie middle linebacker on the Giants’ 1956 title team and played seven more seasons in New York before being traded to the Washington Redskins in 1964.

Huff remembers that football was different in 1956. The rules have changed and so have the linebackers.

There were no Lawrence Taylor-types in Huff’s day.

Huff, inducted into the NFL Hall of Fame in 1982, would like to compare the 1956 team with this year’s Super Bowl Giants. But he can’t.

“There’s no way to compare,� said Huff, who is vice president in charge of special markets for Marriott Hotels. “The rules have changed. The players are bigger and stronger. There’s no way you can do it. It’s just speculation. This is a great football team, equal to the Bears of last year. But the teams I played on were tested in six title games in eight years.�

The Giants beat the Chicago Bears for the 1956 championship, 47-7, but lost title games in 1958, 1959, 1961, 1962 and 1963.

Huff has watched the Giant linebackers of this season with great admiration. He said he has never seen the likes of Taylor, chosen as the NFL’s most valuable player this season.

But Huff said that rule changes since his day have revolutionized the postion he once dominated.

“Offensive linemen are now allowed to push, hold, punch,� Huff said. “They’ve changed the rules and allowed linemen to use their hands, and the defense has had to counter.�

Most teams have switched to three-man defensive fronts and four linebackers. Defensive linemen of today are expected to keep offensive linemen busy and let the linebackers make the plays.

That’s how Taylor, a defensive end in college, can lead the NFL in sacks.

“There will be no more Fearsome Foursomes or Purple People Eaters,� Huff said of great former defensive lines of the Rams and Minnesota Vikings. “You can name on one hand the great defensive linemen of the NFL. At one time, you’d have a Merlin Olsen, Rosey Grier and Deacon Jones on one team.�

Without even realizing it, Huff said, rule changes designed to protect quarterbacks have also worked against the passer.

Outside linebackers like Taylor are like defensive ends who are getting a running start at their targets.

“Quarterbacks are getting hit now by linebackers and defensive backs,� Huff said. “And they really stick you.�

A linebacker of the 1950s and ‘60s was different.

“He was a hit-man, the tackler,� Huff said. “He could also play pass defense. We blitzed occasionally but there was usually no need, because the defensive linemen were our rush men.�

During his career, Huff intercepted 30 passes. Taylor, by comparison, has five interceptions in six seasons.

Huff played the middle linebacker spot on the 1956 team. Harland Svare was on Huff’s right and Bill Svoboda was on his left.

“He was only 215 pounds,� Huff said of Svoboda, who has since died. “He’d take a tight end and work him over, hit the guard and then make the tackles. The linebackers of the 1950s were damn tough people.

“Svare was a tough guy. He once delivered a forearm blow that hit Kyle Rote in practice. He hit the guy on his head and split his helmet.�

They don’t make helmets the way they used to. Or linebackers either.