Sam Hubbard’s Career
After a phenomenal career at every stage of the game, Sam Hubbard announced his retirement from the Cincinnati Bengals after 7 seasons on March 5, 2025. Despite the amazing plays and many games he helped the franchise win, Sam was an even better person than he was a football player, which is what makes him such a crucial part to any team he’s on as well as the community he is part of.
Sam is Ohio through and through, starting and finishing his career all within the great state. As a Cincinnati native, he began his career at Archbishop Moeller high school where he was an all-around phenomenal athlete. While he was playing football for Moeller, he led the program to back-to-back state championships. In his time in high school, he did not only excel at football, but also as a lacrosse player. His lacrosse talent was in fact so great that he committed to one of the top lacrosse programs in the country in Notre Dame. Despite this, Hubbard put up 109 tackles 5 interceptions in his senior season playing safety with the Crusaders and was ranked a 5-star recruit by multiple outlets and as fate would have it, he uncommitted from Notre Dame and flipped to play football for the Ohio State Buckeyes and Urban Meyer. In his time at Ohio State, he became a standout player racking up 7 sacks and 42 total tackles in his final season while playing alongside Nick Bosa. His great career with the buckeyes allowed him to be selected in the 3rd round of the 2018 NFL draft by the Bengals.
When he entered Cincinnati’s program, he made an instant impact. Hubbard started in 88 consecutive games from 2019-2024 and compiled a total of 398 tackles, 55 tackles for loss, 38.5 sacks, 16 pass deflections, one interception, six forced fumbles and five fumble recoveries in his career. In his last 4 seasons with the franchise, he was voted team captain by his peers, demonstrating his excellent leadership and how highly he was thought of by his teammates and community. Sam was a big part of why the team made it to 2 AFC championship games and the first super bowl game in decades. Despite his many accolades on the field, off the turf is where Hubbard shown the brightest.
The Bengals president Mike Brown had the following to say about Sam’s retirement: "Sam always has been and always will be a wonderful part of the Bengals organization and the entire Cincinnati community… We were fortunate to draft him in 2018, and we immediately knew that we added an outstanding player and an even better person to our team. Sam epitomizes what you want in a player — he's a great teammate, a talented athlete and a passionate community member.” One of Sam’s biggest contributions to the city of Cincinnati was not his iconic 98-yard touchdown run, but rather The Sam Hubbard Foundation. His foundation aims to bring equitable access to food, education and a healthy lifestyle for all Cincinnatians. His work with the foundation earned him the honor of being the Bengals' Walter Payton Man of the Year Award nominee in 2021 and 2022.
Sam Hubbard is one of Cincinnati’s great athletes, as he began and concluded his career in the same place, but his retirement does not mark the end to his contribution to the city. Sam had an amazing career leading his team to many victories, but he will continue to bring victories to the city in ways that football can’t. He is what it means to be a true Man of Moeller and represents the school extraordinarily well in everything he does.
