EDITOR’S NOTE: The Knox County Sports Hall of Fame inducted its inaugural class on Nov. 2, 2019 at the Knox County Historical Society. Seven local athletic legends made up the first class of inductees. Knox Pages reporter Grant Pepper helped research each inductee in preparation for the ceremony. This week, we will run stories based on that research. Pepper used resources like Newspapers.com, the world’s largest online newspaper archive, to collect statistics, quotes and anecdotes pertaining to each athlete.
Dick Shuff stood just 5-foot-6, 155 pounds during his playing days at Mount Vernon High School. But based on the way he was written about in local newspapers and talked about by opposing coaches, he was nothing short of terrifying on the football field.
Shuff, dubbed “one of Mount Vernon High’s all-time athletic greats” by the Newark Advocate, played running back for Mount Vernon from 1946-1949. He started at the varsity level all four years, with the most notable being his junior season, 1948, when Mount Vernon won the Central Buckeye League and Shuff was named first-team all-Ohio.
Shuff, also a dangerous punt returner and savvy defensive back, scored 18 touchdowns that year. He amassed over 1,000 yards on the ground.
His touchdown runs were a thing of beauty, according to local reporters. As the New Philadelphia Times reported in November of 1949, “Shuff is as elusive a runner as will be found anywhere in the state, and just one false motion on the part of a would-be tackler will send him slipping through defenses as fast as a jackrabbit.
“Shuff is the type of runner that doesn’t depend on speed to carry him past the secondary. He tries to outwit them by shifting his weight around and throwing the tackler off-balance.” Shuff averaged 35 yards per touchdown run his junior season.
Shuff, albeit small in stature, was feared statewide for his running abilities. When Mount Vernon came to town, he made headlines. The speedster earned nicknames like “Shuff, the stuff” and “Shuff the Shuffler,” and when Mount Vernon won, the team was sometimes referred to as “Shuff & Co.,” as opposed to the Yellow Jackets. More accurate, perhaps.
By the time Shuff was a senior, he was Mount Vernon’s do-it-all man. Shuff was one of just six returning lettermen from the year before, making him often the lone subject of opposing scouting reports. This made things more difficult for Shuff, who also dealt with ankle injuries that season.
The team finished with a losing record, but not without the efforts of Shuff, who finished his high school career valiantly. He was recognized across the region as an all-time Mount Vernon great.
As a reporter from the Advocate wrote before one of Shuff’s final games, “This slashing, dashing tailback seems as much a part of football at Mount Vernon as the gridiron on which the squad has been working on daily since Aug. 20. A regular as a freshman, this 160-pounder has been one of the big guns all the way.”
Shuff also starred on the basketball and track teams at Mount Vernon High School. On the court, he was a three-year varsity player, and was named team captain his senior season. He was known for his motor, his physicality and his scoring ability.
He was so athletic that at just 5-foot-6, he could jump and hang on the rim. On the track, he used his menacing speed to excel at the 100-meter dash.
Shuff went to the University of Toledo after high school to play football, but his college career was short-lived, as he had to quit due to his heart being too big. Shuff, a Mount Vernon native, returned to his hometown and spent the rest of his life here. He worked for 31 years at Ludlow Flexible Packaging Division and raised a family alongside his wife, Betty.
Dick Shuff passed away on October 14, 1980 at the age of 50. He is buried in Mound View Cemetery, where his grave features a tall tombstone with a picture of a football player on the front. Shuff was loved by those who knew him; it is reported that on March 1, 1980, his last birthday, more than 100 teammates, classmates and coaches attended a surprise birthday party for him at the Armory in Mount Vernon.
He will forever be remembered as one of Mount Vernon High School’s finest athletes.
