Paul Hubbard holds a distinctive place in American sports history as a deaf quarterback whose practical insight reshaped football strategy. Though his name is not widely recognized, his influence is felt in nearly every football game played today. Hubbard is credited with inventing the football huddle, a solution born out of necessity that became a defining feature of the sport. Decades later, his idea would even inspire creative alternatives, including one famously associated with NFL coach Hank Stram.
Hubbard was born in 1871 in Atchison, Kansas, and became deaf at a young age. At a time when deaf Americans faced significant barriers, he was able to pursue education at schools for the deaf, including the Kansas School for the Deaf and the Colorado School for the Deaf and Blind. His academic path eventually led him to Gallaudet University in Washington, D.C., the nation’s premier institution for deaf and hard-of-hearing students.
In the early 1890s, Hubbard played quarterback for the Gallaudet football team. Football was still evolving, and teams relied heavily on shouted commands or hand signals. Gallaudet players communicated plays using American Sign Language, which worked well against hearing teams. The challenge arose when Gallaudet faced other deaf teams, whose players could easily read and understand the signed play calls before the snap. Hubbard devised a simple and effective solution. Instead of signing plays in the open, he gathered his teammates into a tight inward-facing circle, blocking opponents’ view of the signs. This tactic preserved secrecy and allowed the team to operate efficiently. Around 1894, the football huddle was introduced — not as a spectacle or innovation for innovation’s sake, but as a functional response to a real competitive problem.
The effectiveness of the huddle quickly became apparent beyond Gallaudet. Hearing teams adopted it to conceal verbal play calls, coordinate strategy, and reinforce teamwork. Over time, the huddle became standard at nearly all levels of football, from high school fields to professional stadiums. What began as an accommodation for deaf players became an essential strategic element of the game.
After graduating, Hubbard returned to Kansas and devoted his life to education and athletics at the Kansas School for the Deaf. He organized and coached the school’s first football team in 1899 and later became its first athletic director. Over a career spanning more than 40 years, he helped build opportunities for deaf students to compete, learn and lead through sports. He retired in 1942 and passed away in 1946, largely without public recognition for his lasting contribution to football.
Ironically, once the huddle became universal, some coaches sought ways to counter it. One of the most notable alternatives emerged in the 1960s with Hank Stram, head coach of the Kansas City Chiefs. Stram created a distinctive, non-traditional huddle formation often described as “L”-shaped or spread out, which allowed players to hear the play calls more clearly in noisy stadiums. While Stram’s approach appeared to challenge the huddle, it actually underscored its importance. The no-huddle offense worked precisely because the huddle had become the norm; abandoning it was a strategic surprise. In this way, even football’s deviations trace back to Hubbard’s original idea.
Paul Hubbard’s legacy is not just the huddle itself, but what it represents: innovation driven by accessibility and lived experience. His solution reshaped football, and even the strategies designed to replace the huddle owe their existence to the standard he set.
Phil Connelly
Phil Connelly serves on the board of directors for the Ravalli County Museum and Historical Society as board president and treasurer. He has been writing a history column for Ravalli Republic since 2009.