The Cincinnati kid played his entire high school, college and NFL career in the Buckeye State.
From now until preseason camp starts in August, Land-Grant Holy Land will be writing articles around a different theme every week. This week is all about Ohio State heroes. Whether they are the biggest names in Buckeye athletic history, or underappreciated icons; perhaps even players who made major impacts off the field.
You can catch up on all of the Theme Week content here and all of our ”Buckeye Heroes” articles here.
Living in and being from Cincinnati, this is a perfect week for me to explain why former Buckeyes defensive end Sam Hubbard is a Buckeye Hero.
While at Ohio State from 2014-2017, Hubbard may have been easy to overlook with all the talent around him. The former five-star recruit was Second-Team All-Big Ten in 2017, a season where he posted seven sacks — the highest single-season sack total in Hubbard’s Buckeyes career.
After redshirting in 2014, when Ohio State won their eighth National Championship in school history, Hubbard played three full seasons at defensive end. In 40 games, Hubbard had 17 sacks and 30 tackles for loss. In addition, he had 116 combined tackles and three forced fumbles.
After the 2017 season, which Hubbard concluded with a dominant performance featuring 2.5 sacks and four tackles for loss in the Cotton Bowl against the Sam Darnold-led USC Trojans, Hubbard declared for the NFL Draft, where he would be selected in the third round (77th overall) by the Cincinnati Bengals.
Every young football player dreams of playing in the NFL some day. That’s a big dream in of itself. But imagine playing your entire high school, college and NFL careers in the state you grew up in, not to mention your whole NFL career on the team you grew up rooting for.
That’s the dream Sam Hubbard lived. Not only that, but the former Buckeye had a solid seven-year career with the Bengals.
There are lots of former Buckeyes who had great careers in the NFL, some of whom are now enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Hubbard may be a long shot to get to Canton, but his NFL career is still memorable because of how he represented his city and his state on the pro football stage.
The Cincinnati Kid’s career culminated with his 2021 and 2022 seasons. It started on July 25, 2021, even before Training Camp, when Hubbard signed a four-year, $40 million contract extension.
Any player who signs a contract extension with the team that drafts him is generally a really good player. It’s a major accomplishment and milestone, which Hubbard earned with 16.5 sacks and 22 tackles for loss through his first three seasons. The former Buckeye was off to a great start in his professional career, and more memorable moments were still to come.
Playing on the first Bengals team to win a playoff game since 1990, and the first Bengals Super Bowl team since 1988, Hubbard had a sack in the Bengals home playoff win over the Las Vegas Raiders. Then in the AFC Championship at Kansas City against Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs, Hubbard came flying in to strip sack Mahomes on the Chiefs’ final drive of regulation. It forced the Chiefs to settle for a long field goal to send the game to overtime, where the Bengals won 27-24.
In a game where Hubbard’s former Ohio State teammate Joe Burrow made highlight reel plays with his arms and his legs, it was Hubbard who made the biggest defensive, and, arguably, overall play by spying Mahomes and then swarming in to strip sack him and push the Chiefs farther back in field goal range.
Playing on football’s biggest stage, Hubbard had eight tackles — two for loss — and a quarterback hit in Super Bowl LVI. A former Buckeye, who hails from the Buckeye State, was one of the Bengals’ biggest performers in the Super Bowl. It doesn’t get much better than that.
That leads to the night of Jan. 15, 2023. This was the night where Hubbard’s Ohio roots and pride became known nationally.
Playing against the Baltimore Ravens in the Wild Card round of the Playoffs, and the Ravens on the doorstep of taking the lead, Hubbard found himself in the right place at the right time. Hubbard caught the ball that was punched out by Bengals linebacker Logan Wilson on a quarterback sneak attempt. All that was left for Hubbard to do was rumble the length of the jungle to pay dirt.
Keep in mind, Hubbard is no small guy. Pro Football Reference lists him at 6-foot-5, 265 pounds. That’s what makes his 98-yard fumble return for a touchdown that much more impressive. This was a defensive lineman running the length of the field, outrunning the speed of the Ravens offense in the process.
Mike Tirico, calling the game for NBC, famously called Hubbard “The Cincinnati kid” as he was running down the field. His call of the play known as the “Hubbard Yard Dash” and the “Fumble in the Jungle” has become etched in the minds and memories of Bengals fans in Cincinnati and beyond.
The enduring image of him flexing while wearing an oxygen mask on the sideline lives on forever in Bengals fans heads. It was the culmination of a career for a player and man who emboides being a Buckeye and being from Ohio.
Through his seven NFL seasons, Hubbard recorded 38.5 sacks, 55 tackles for loss, 98 quarterback hits, six forced fumbles, five fumble recoveries, one interception, 398 tackles, a safety and three total touchdowns. The last play of his career was a touchdown reception from Joe Burrow in Week 15 of the 2024 season — a fitting way for the Cincinnati kid and Buckeye to go out.
Off the field, Hubbard’s impact is still felt throughout Cincinnati. A two-time Bengals nominee for the Walter Payton Man of the Year, Hubbard established the Sam Hubbard Foundation in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. According to the Foundation’s website, it remains committed to fighting food insecurity in the Cincinnati community.
With multiple programs, including Hubbard’s Cupboard, the Sam Hubbard Foundation is Sam’s way of giving back to the commuity that raised him into one of the most beloved players in Bengals history. In addition, Hubbard will always be a Buckeye, one who played with pride on the field and, more importantly, plays with pride off the field.