The Cable Guy came to our home today. It wasn’t Jim Carrey. It was Sam Huff’s third cousin.

The Spectrum repairman came to our Tallmadge, Ohio condo, saw my WVU shrine den with dozens of WV items, and said, "You must be a Mountaineers fan."

Good guess.

Ryan Huff is a third cousin to WVU and New York Giants legend Sam Huff. Ryan was living in the Morgantown area ("small town; don't remember which one") until he had barely begun to attend school. 

Now he lives in Coventry Township, just south of Akron, Ohio, with 3 children 10 to 19, I believe.

He entered my life because Paula and I were having trouble with our Internet being disconnected randomly since Spectrum bought and took over Time Warner Cable of Northeast Ohio.

Sam Huff became a national celebrity when CBS aired a television special, “The Violent World of Sam Huff,” centered around the NFL’s most famous linebacker. Huff is in the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, about 20 miles on I-77 south of Tallmadge. And the College Football Hall of Fame.

The Farmington No. 9 childhood led to football at Farmington High, West Virginia University, the New York Giants and the Washington Redskins.

WVU was 31-7 with Huff on the offensive line. He became an All-American.

Huff was discouraged when he first went to the Giants, but assistant coach Vince Lombardi convinced him to stay and defensive coach Tom Landry, later a head coaching legend with the Dallas Cowboys, switched to a 4-3 defensive scheme that he thought would fit Sam like a glove.

Boy, was Landry right! Linebacker Sam helped the Giants make 3 NFL championship games, got his mug on Time magazine. Sam played in four Pro Bowls.

By the way, the Giants were paying Sam $19,000. The Redskins bumped that to $35,000. Today, NFL stars wouldn’t dream of signing for less than $100,000 A GAME!

When Huff lost to Robert Mollohan in a Democratic primary for Congress, he said: “Never again. Too dirty.”

This from the guy who was considered one of the toughest linebackers in NFL history!

Mountaineers are everywhere. I've encountered them in my travels to 55 countries and 44 states.

It made my day to see another West Virginia native when The Cable Guy showed up at our home.