Dave Huffman

No. 56, 72

Position:

Center

Personal information

Date of birth:

April 4, 1957

Place of birth:

Canton, Ohio

Date of death:

November 21, 1998 (aged 41)

Height:

6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)

Weight:

280 lb (127 kg)

Career information

College:

Notre Dame

NFL draft:

1979 / Round: 2 / Pick: 43

Career history

Career highlights and awards

NCAA National Champion (1977)
Consensus All-American (1977)

Career NFL statistics

Games Played:	128
Games Started:	22

For other people with the same name, see David Huffman (disambiguation).

David Lambert Huffman (April 4, 1957 – November 22, 1998) was an American college and professional football player who was an offensive lineman in the National Football League and United States Football League (USFL) for twelve seasons during the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s. Huffman played college football for the University of Notre Dame, where he was a member of Notre Dame's 1977 national championship team and an All-American. He played professionally for the NFL's Minnesota Vikings, and the Memphis Showboats of the USFL.

Early years

Huffman was born in Canton, Ohio. He graduated from Thomas Jefferson High School in Dallas, Texas, where he also served as class Valedictorian his senior year and was a member of the high school newspaper staff.^[1]

College career

He attended the University of Notre Dame, and played for coach Ara Parseghian and coach Dan Devine's Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team from 1975 to 1979.^[1] As a junior, Huffman was a member of the Irish's 1977 national championship squad. As a senior in 1977, he was recognized as a consensus first-team All-American. His brothers, Tim and Steve, also played for Notre Dame. He was noted for his good humor, which included saying that during games he always wore red-colored elbow pads so that his mother could see where he was in the pile-ups.

Professional career

The Minnesota Vikings selected Huffman in the second round (forty-third pick overall) of the 1979 NFL Draft, and he played for the Vikings from 1979 to 1990 with only one interruption. In 1984 and 1985, he also played for the USFL's Arizona Wranglers and Memphis Showboats. In his eleven NFL seasons, he played in 128 games.

Death

Huffman died in a car accident on November 21, 1998, while on his way to the final Notre Dame home game of the season.^[2] He was survived by his wife, Cathy, a daughter, Jessica, and a son, Jack.^[3] Each year, the city of Chanhassen, Minnesota, where Huffman served as a Park & Recreation Commissioner after his playing days, hosts a Dave Huffman Memorial 5,000-meter run.^[4]

References

1 2 Dave Huffman profile at databaseFootball.com
↑ On this date in Notre Dame Football History
↑ Dave Huffman: ZoomInfo Business People Information
↑ Dave Huffman 5K Memorial Run

1977 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football—consensus national champions

Luther Bradley Ross Browner Mike Courey Vagas Ferguson Willie Fry Bob Golic Kris Haines Dave Huffman Bobby Leopold Rusty Lisch Ken MacAfee Joe Montana Dave Waymer Head coach: Dan Devine Assistant coaches: Jim Johnson Merv Johnson Hank Kuhlmann Francis Peay Ron Toman Joe Yonto

1978 College Football All-America Team consensus selections

Offense	QB Chuck Fusina RB Charles Alexander RB Ted Brown RB Billy Sims RB Charles White WR Emanuel Tolbert TE Kellen Winslow OT Kelvin Clark OT Keith Dorney G Pat Howell G Greg Roberts C Dave Huffman C Jim Ritcher

Defense	DL Mike Bell DL Bruce Clark DL Hugh Green DL Al Harris DL Marty Lyons LB Tom Cousineau LB Bob Golic LB Jerry Robinson DB Kenny Easley DB Johnnie Johnson DB Jeff Nixon

Special teams	P Russell Erxleben

Minnesota Vikings 1979 NFL draft selections

Ted Brown Dave Huffman Steve Dils Jerry Meter Joe Senser Bob Winkel Billy Diggs Brian Nelson David Stephens

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