Vern Huffman

Richard Vernon Huffman (December 18, 1914 – March 18, 1995) was an American football and basketball player. He was born in Mooreland, Indiana and was raised in and around New Castle, Indiana.

Vern Huffman

Huffman in his Indiana basketball uniform, circa 1936
No. 6
Position:	Halfback, Quarterback
Personal information
Born:	(1914-12-18)December 18, 1914 Mooreland, Indiana, U.S.
Died:	March 18, 1995(1995-03-18) (aged 80) Bloomington, Indiana, U.S.
Height:	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)
Weight:	215 lb (98 kg)
Career information
High school:	New Castle (New Castle, Indiana)
College:	Indiana
NFL draft:	1937 / round: 3 / pick: 27
Career history
Detroit Lions (1937–1938)
Career highlights and awards
Chicago Tribune Silver Football (1936) First-team All-Big Ten (1936) Indiana Hoosiers Hall of Fame (1982)
Career NFL statistics
Games played: 22 Games started: 15 Rushing attempts-yards: 104–368 Receptions-yards: 9–121 Touchdowns: 2 Stats at Pro Football Reference

He played basketball for the New Castle High School team that won the Indiana state basketball championship in 1932.^[1] He enrolled at Indiana University in 1932 and played both football and basketball there. He was an All-American in both basketball and football at Indiana and won the 1936 Chicago Tribune Silver Football as the best football player in the Big Ten Conference.^[1]

He was drafted in the third round of the 1937 NFL Draft.^[2] He played two seasons of professional football in the National Football League for the Detroit Lions in 1937 and 1938.^[3][4] Huffman later managed a dairy and worked for the Federal Bureau of Investigation.^[5] He was inducted into the Indiana Hoosiers Hall of Fame in 1982.^[6] Huffman died in 1995 at age 80 in Bloomington, Indiana.^[1]

Huffman's brother Marv was also an All-American basketball player at Indiana and later played professionally with the Akron Goodyear Wingfoots of the National Basketball League.^[7]

References

1. "VERNON HUFFMAN, IU FOOTBALL STAR OF '30S, DIES AT AGE 80". News-Sentinel (Ft. Wayne, IN). March 20, 1995.
2. "1937 NFL Draft Listing". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved March 21, 2023.
3. "Vern Huffman profile". pro-football-reference.com. Retrieved April 5, 2010.
4. "Huffman Big Ten's 'Most Valuable'". The Pittsburgh Press. December 27, 1936.
5. "Indiana University Oral History Archive, 1991–1998". Indiana University. Retrieved April 5, 2010.
6. "Hall of Fame – 1982 Inductees". Indiana University. Archived from the original on January 7, 2012. Retrieved January 7, 2012.
7. Hiner, Jason (2013). Indiana University Basketball Encyclopedia. ISBN 9781613216170. Retrieved April 16, 2017.