For over 50 years, former Mountaineer and NFL great Sam Huff has had to live with the beating his WVU team suffered at the hands of Georgia Tech in the 1953 Sugar Bowl. But with this years victory in the Gator Bowl, he is ready to walk into the light.

"I can die in peace now," Huff said, smiling after the 62nd Gator Bowl. "We finally beat Georgia Tech in a bowl game." He told the 2006 Mountaineers just that in a postgame locker room visit after they welcomed '07 with a stirring, comeback 38-35 Gator triumph over the Yellow Jackets

Sam Huff is the only football player in Mountaineer history to have his number retired. He went on to star in the NFL with the New York Giants and Washington Redskins and was inducted into the NFL hall of fame in 1982. But of all the losses he endured during his career, that Sugar Bowl loss was the one that always stuck with him.

"But the game I remember most was that Sugar Bowl. Georgia Tech embarrassed us. Of all the games I played in my career -- and that was a long time -- that one stuck with me. It didn't feel good. "I've had to live with it for 50 years, so these guys today got some revenge for me."

I was too young to see Sam play the game, but he remains one of the best to ever play. In 1999 he was named to the 100 greatest football players in The Sporting News, and CBS once did a special on him titled, "The Violent World of Sam Huff." It's an honor and a privilege that he remains focused and loyal to the program. We're happy that your life is complete now Mr. Huff, but don't walk into that light just yet.