Wolfe participated in football, basketball, and track and field at John Tarleton Agricultural College.[3]
Wolfe then transferred to play for the Texas Longhorns of the University of Texas in 1934.[4] He was an All-SWC selection and the top scorer for the Longhorns in 1936 and 1937. He played in the 1938 East–West Shrine Game. Wolfe was also a member of the 1937 SWC championship track and field team and won a SWC discus title in track and field.[5][6] He was named second-team All-American by the United Press in 1937. In a November 14, 1936, game against Minnesota, he set a then-school record with a 95-yard kickoff return for a touchdown, quick kicked 90 yards, and had an onside kick that traveled 50 yards into Minnesota's end zone and was recovered by a Longhorn teammate for a touchdown.[6][7] Wolfe kicked a game-winning field goal in a 9–6 win against Baylor on November 6, 1937. The victory knocked Baylor out of Rose Bowl contention.[6][7] He turned down an invitation to compete in the decathlon at the 1936 Olympics.[3]
He is a member of the Tarleton Athletics Hall of Fame and the University of Texas Athletics Hall of Honor, into which he was inducted in 1977.[5]
Professional career
Wolfe was drafted by the Pittsburgh Pirates of the NFL with the 19th pick in the 1938 NFL draft.[8] He was the first Texas Longhorn to be selected in the NFL Draft.[5] He played for the NFL's New York Giants in 1938 and was named to the Pro Bowl team. The Giants defeated the Green Bay Packers 23-17 on December 11, 1938, to win the 1938 NFL Championship.
In 1939 he played for the pro side of the annual College vs Pro All-star game at Wrigley Field. In February he was traded to the Philadelphia Eagles for halfback Irving Hall.[9] But, he didn't play that season. Instead he went to Hawaii to coach the Hawaii Polar Bears, a group of college all-stars that played in the Hawaiian Amateur Senior League.[10]
Personal life
Wolfe served in the United States Armed Forces during World War II. He established an aluminum gate manufacturing company called Al-Prodco (Aluminum Products Company). He also ran a family nursery called Wolfe Nursery.[3] Wolfe died on May 20, 2010, in a Fort Worth hospice center.[2]
References
^"HUGH WOLFE". profootballarchives.com. Archived from the original on August 26, 2014. Retrieved August 24, 2014.
^"1934 Football Roster". texassports.com/. Archived from the original on August 3, 2016. Retrieved August 2, 2016.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
^ abc"Hugh Wolfe". texassports.com. Retrieved August 24, 2014.