Samuel George Hurd, III (born April 24, 1985) is a former

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team wi ...

wide receiver and convicted drug dealer. He was in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

(NFL) for the

Dallas Cowboys The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football team based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The Cowboys compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East divi ...

and Chicago Bears, and played college football at

Northern Illinois University Northern Illinois University (NIU) is a public research university in DeKalb, Illinois. It was founded as Northern Illinois State Normal School on May 22, 1895, by Illinois Governor John P. Altgeld as part of an expansion of the state's system ...

Early years

Hurd attended

Brackenridge High School G.W. Brackenridge High School is a public high school located in central San Antonio, Texas, United States, and classified as a 5A school by the University Interscholastic League (UIL). This school is one of 12 high school schools in the San Ant ...

in San Antonio, Texas, where he practiced football,

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

and track. As a senior wide receiver, he posted 60 receptions for 1,639 yards and 23

touchdown A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchdown by advancing the ball into the opponent's end zone. In Amer ...

s, receiving All-state honors.

College career

Hurd accepted a football scholarship from

. As a true freshman, he appeared in 12 games (2 starts), collecting 22 receptions for 512 yards and 3

s. As a sophomore, he registered 29 receptions for 438 yards and 2

s in 12 games (7 starts). As a junior, he appeared in 10 games, making 27 receptions for 298 yards and 3

s. He helped NIU to a victory in the 2004 Silicon Valley Football Classic in a game that was delayed nearly 40 minutes due to a power outage. A strong running offense limited Hurd's receiving stats until his senior year, when he registered 65 receptions for 1,074 yards, and 13

s (second best in school history). He also had the best receiving game in school history with 266 yards against Central Michigan University. He teamed with

P. J. Fleck Philip John Fleck Jr. (born November 29, 1980) is an American football coach and former wide receiver. He has served as the head coach for the Minnesota Golden Gophers football team since 2017. Born in Sugar Grove, Illinois, Fleck played colle ...

, Shatone Powers, and Dan Sheldon to form one of the best wide receiver groups in the MAC. Hurd finished his college career with 143 receptions (tied for fifth in school history), 2,323 yards (second in school history), and 21 receiving

s (third in school history).

Professional career

Dallas Cowboys

Hurd was signed as an

undrafted free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

by the

after the

2006 NFL Draft The 2006 National Football League Draft, the 71st in league history, took place in New York City, New York, at Radio City Music Hall on April 29 and April 30, 2006. For the 27th consecutive year, the draft was telecast on ESPN and ESPN2, with add ...

on May 1. He recorded his first NFL reception on

Tony Romo Antonio Ramiro Romo (born April 21, 1980) is an American sportscaster and former American football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 14 seasons with the Dallas Cowboys. He played college football at Eastern Illino ...

's first NFL pass (33 yards) against the Houston Texans. Four weeks later, he got his first start against the Arizona Cardinals, recording four catches for 42 yards and also caught a

pass that was negated due to offensive pass interference against Patrick Crayton. He ended the season with 5 catches for 75 yards 16

special teams In American football, the specific role that a player takes on the field is referred to as their "position". Under the modern rules of American football, both teams are allowed 11 players on the field at one time and have "unlimited free substitu ...

tackles (tied for second on the team), one forced fumble and one fumble recovery. In 2007, he was the team's third receiver, tallying 19 receptions for 314 yards, one

and 16

tackles (sixth on the team). In

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

, after the release of

Terry Glenn Terry Tyree Glenn (July 23, 1974 – November 20, 2017) was an American football player who was a wide receiver in the National Football League (NFL) for the New England Patriots, Green Bay Packers, and Dallas Cowboys. He was drafted by t ...

, Hurd was given the opportunity to start opposite to

Terrell Owens Terrell Eldorado Owens (; born December 7, 1973), nicknamed T.O., is an American football wide receiver for the Knights of Degen of Fan Controlled Football (FCF). He previously played in the National Football League (NFL) for 15 seasons. Regar ...

, but suffered a high left-ankle sprain in preseason that caused him to miss the first three games of the season. He returned to play in three games, before re-injuring his ankle and being placed on the

injured reserve list The injured reserve list ( IR list) is a designation used in North American professional sports leagues for athletes who suffer injuries and become unable to play. The exact name of the list varies by league; it is known as "injured reserve" in th ...

on October 16. He finished with one

tackle. In 2009, he led the Cowboys with 19

tackles. In 2010, he was named special teams captain, finishing the season second on the team with 21 tackles. During his time with the Cowboys he had some great training camp performances, but he never developed as a consistent wide receiver. His contributions came mainly as a key special teams performer, earning NFC Special Teams Player of the Week in 2006 as a rookie.

Chicago Bears

On July 29, 2011, he signed a three-year contract as a

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

with the Chicago Bears. The Bears named Hurd their

captain, but cut him from the team on December 16, following his arrest on drug-related charges.

Personal life

In 2007, Hurd started co-hosting ''Inside the Huddle,'' a one-hour player commentary show that aired live on 105.3 FM radio in

Dallas Dallas () is the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 ...

, as well as a 30-minute television show on Time Warner Cable's ESPN2 and Video on Demand service. It was originally co-hosted by

quarterback The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Ame ...

, but in 2008, Hurd teamed up with wide receiver

for the show that aired on Tuesday nights on KLLI from the

House of Blues House of Blues is an American chain of live music concert halls and restaurants. It was founded by Isaac Tigrett, the co-founder of Hard Rock Cafe, and Dan Aykroyd, co-star of the 1980 film ''The Blues Brothers''. The first location opened at Ha ...

in Dallas. Hurd ran a program called "Running with the Hurd", which is aimed at helping underprivileged young children.

Arrest and incarceration

On December 14, 2011, Hurd was arrested in Chicago for allegedly attempting to purchase and distribute large quantities of

cocaine Cocaine (from , from , ultimately from Quechua: ''kúka'') is a central nervous system (CNS) stimulant mainly used recreationally for its euphoric effects. It is primarily obtained from the leaves of two Coca species native to South Ameri ...

and marijuana, and faced federal drug charges in the Dallas Division of the Northern District of Texas. The case was investigated by the

ICE Ice is water frozen into a solid state, typically forming at or below temperatures of 0 degrees Celsius or Depending on the presence of impurities such as particles of soil or bubbles of air, it can appear transparent or a more or less opaqu ...

(U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement). The investigation started in July 2011, during the

NFL lockout The NFL lockout may refer to any of the lockouts or strikes in the history of the National Football League: * The 1968 NFL strike/lockout, which lasted 12 days before the start of the 1968 season. * The 1970 NFL strike/lockout, which lasted a ...

, and while Hurd was a member of the Bears. The complaint alleged Hurd had negotiated to pay $25,000 per kilogram of cocaine, and another $450 per pound of marijuana. Police believed Hurd was connected to a group of dealers arrested in California in August 2011, because a phone number traced to Hurd was found in the

caller ID Caller identification (Caller ID) is a telephone service, available in analog and digital telephone systems, including voice over IP (VoIP), that transmits a caller's telephone number to the called party's telephone equipment when the call i ...

of one of the dealers. On January 24, after finding a new attorney, Hurd entered a plea of not guilty for setting up a drug-dealing network. On August 9, 2012, Hurd was arrested again for violating his bond by failing two drug tests. The report stated Hurd failed his first drug test in May and a second on July 12, testing positive for marijuana and admitting to drug use both times. His attorney, Jay Ethington, said Hurd was going through a difficult time and succumbed to pressure, according to the report. A federal judge later ordered Hurd to be jailed indefinitely. On April 10, 2013, Hurd announced he would change his plea to guilty the following day. He faced a sentence of 10 years to life. On November 13, 2013, Hurd was sentenced to 15 years in prison. Hurd is incarcerated at the Federal Correctional Institution in Bastrop, Texas. He is scheduled to be released on May 30, 2023.

References

External links

Breaking Real Bad: Inside the Sam Hurd Drug Case
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hurd, Sam 1985 births Living people Players of American football from San Antonio American football wide receivers Northern Illinois Huskies football players Dallas Cowboys players Chicago Bears players American drug traffickers Prisoners and detainees of the United States federal government American people convicted of drug offenses American sportspeople convicted of crimes Brackenridge High School alumni Ed Block Courage Award recipients