Sammy Baugh, a football legend who quarterbacked TCU to victory in the first Cotton Bowl game in 1937, then revolutionized the passing game during 16 years in the National Football League, died Wednesday at age 94.

Baugh, dubbed “Slingin’ Sammy” by a Texas sportswriter for his defensive skills as a baseball third baseman, led college football in both passing and punting during his junior and senior seasons and also was a standout defensive player.

News of his death in Rotan, Texas, stirred recollections of a golden age in TCU football and the national attention Baugh claimed for the Fort Worth school, which just last year named its new indoor practice facility in his honor.

“Sam Baugh always will remain an integral part of TCU,” said Danny Morrison, the school’s athletics director. “His accomplishments have left an undeniable impact on our football program and the sport in general.

“TCU is extremely fortunate and honored to call Sam Baugh one of its own. Having his name on our indoor practice facility was just another way to honor his legacy. He will forever be known as one of the greatest Horned Frogs.”

Football coach Gary Patterson put it more succinctly: “Sam Baugh was TCU!”

Baugh was born in 1914 in Temple, Texas, then grew up in Sweetwater, Texas. He led TCU to victories over LSU in the 1936 Sugar Bowl, capping a 12-1 season, then closed out his collegiate career with the 1937 Cotton Bowl win over Marquette.

After departing Fort Worth, Baugh quarterbacked the NFL’s Washington franchise – newly relocated from Boston – and promptly led the team to the league’s 1937 championship. He led the league in passing six times during his career, a feat matched only by Steve Young of the San Francisco 49ers.  Baugh collected a second league title in 1942.

“Sammy’s rare athletic talents changed the way the game was played,” said Steve Perry, president and executive director of the Pro Football Hall of Fame. “It is no exaggeration to say that his tremendous passing skills were a major factor in the evolution of the game from the grind-it-out days of old to the exciting passing game of today.”

Baugh was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1963, and was the last surviving member of that year’s 17 inductees.

The personable Baugh also briefly took up acting, playing a Texas Ranger in a series of short films that played in movie theaters during the early 1940s.

He coached from 1955 to 1959 at Hardin-Simmons and ranks fourth in wins among football mentors at the school with his 23-28 record. He then coached the New York Titans in the American Football League during the 1961 and 1962 seasons and coached the Houston Oilers in 1964.