Sam Baker (halfback)

Loris Hoskins Baker (November 12, 1930 – June 5, 2007), better known as Sam Baker, was an American football player in the National Football League who played in 1953 and from 1956 to 1969. While he would play several positions, he was best known for being a punter and kicker.

High school career
Baker graduated from Corvallis High School in Corvallis, Oregon in 1949.

College career
He played college football at Oregon State University and spent the 1949 season on the OSU rookie team. Baker lettered for the varsity team in 1950–1952 as a running back/kicker, and scored the final touchdown at old Bell Field in the final 1952 home game. In his career at Oregon State University, Baker gained 1,947 yards on 487 carries and was the school record-holder in both categories when he left. He still currently ranks eighth in career yards, and sixth in career carries. He had five 100-yard games, with a best of 159 on 30 carries in the 1951 Civil War at Hayward Field.

Los Angeles Rams
He was drafted in the eleventh round (133rd overall) of the 1952 NFL Draft by the Los Angeles Rams.

Washington Redskins
Baker then played one season for the Washington Redskins in 1953. After two seasons off the field, Sam rejoined the team in 1956. In that season, his 17 field goals led the NFL. That year he also began an 11-year streak of averaging at least 40 yards per punt attempt. In his second season back with the Redskins, Baker scored a league-high 77 points (including 6 scored on a fake punt he ran in for a touchdown). His 45.4-yard punting average with the Redskins was the best in the league in 1958 , and he still managed to convert 25 extra points in 25 attempts that year.

Cleveland Browns
In 1960 he was traded to the Cleveland Browns, where he relinquished his fullback duties and would stay for two seasons.

Dallas Cowboys
In 1962 he was traded to the Dallas Cowboys, where he played two seasons as a punter and kicker. In both seasons he led the league in net punting average, plus led the NFL in extra points attempted/made once.

In 1962 he set the team record of 45.4 yards-per-punt, that was broken until 2006 by Mat McBriar with a 48.2 average.

In 1963 he became the first Cowboys punter to make the Pro Bowl. His 40.6 net average per punt during the season still ranks third in team history.

Philadelphia Eales
In 1964 he was traded to the Philadelphia Eagles, where he would stay the for the last six seasons of his career. He played in the 1965 and 1969 Pro Bowls as a Philadelphia Eagle.

Upon retiring from the NFL, Baker held the NFL record of scoring in 110 straight games. He played for 15 seasons with more than 700 punts and 179 field goals.