Samuel Charles McCullum (born November 30, 1952) is a Jewish American former NFL wide receiver whose ten-year career included six seasons with the Seattle Seahawks and two stints with the Minnesota Vikings. He caught the first touchdown pass in Seahawks history and later became a leader in the NFL Players Association.
McCullum was born in McComb, Mississippi, to a military family and spent much of his childhood moving around the country. In 1967, the family moved to northwest Montana, where he attended Flathead High School in Kalispell. He competed in football, basketball, and track and field, becoming an all-state athlete. At Montana State University, he developed into a leading receiver. In 1972, he caught 12 touchdown passes and earned first-team All-Big Sky Conference honors. He finished college with 16 receiving touchdowns.
The Vikings chose McCullum in the ninth round of the 1974 NFL draft, 232nd overall. As a rookie, he was part of the Minnesota team that reached Super Bowl IX, losing to the Pittsburgh Steelers in January 1975. The expansion Seahawks acquired him before their inaugural 1976 season. In Seattle’s first regular-season game, on September 12, 1976, he caught a 15-yard pass from Jim Zorn for the team’s first touchdown. McCullum became a regular starter alongside Steve Largent and played six seasons in Seattle. His strongest statistical season came in 1980, when he caught 62 passes for 874 yards and six touchdowns. His teammates voted him the recipient of the Marcus Nalley Trophy as the Seahawks’ most valuable player.
Raised Baptist, McCullum married a Jewish woman in Seattle and converted to Judaism while playing for the Seahawks. Their sons, Jamien and Justin, both celebrated bar mitzvahs and later played football at Stanford University.
McCullum also served as the Seahawks’ player representative in labor negotiations. After he led a preseason union solidarity demonstration, Seattle released him in September 1982. He returned to Minnesota for the remainder of the strike-shortened 1982 season and played there again in 1983. Across ten NFL seasons, he made 274 catches for 4,017 yards and 26 touchdowns in 129 regular-season games. In 1989, the National Labor Relations Board ruled that Seattle had unlawfully discharged him for union activity. A federal appeals court upheld his back-pay award in 1993.
After retiring, McCullum worked in business and state government and continued to advocate for former players. He has served as a trustee of NFL player benefits, working on retirement and health issues. Montana State inducted him into its Athletics Hall of Fame in 1993. Kalispell added him to its Legends Wall of Fame in 2011 and the Montana Football Hall of Fame in 2018.
Sources: Colter Nuanez, “Sam McCullum,” Montana Football Hall of Fame.
“Sam McCullum,” Montana State University Athletics.
“Sam McCullum,” Seattle Seahawks.
“1980 Team Statistics,” Seattle Seahawks.
Nate Bloom, “Your Pre-Game Guide to Super Bowl Jews,” Jewish Standard (January 29, 2016), p. 30.
“Sam McCullum,” Jews in Sports Online.
Elmer Nordstrom et al. v. National Labor Relations Board, 984 F.2d 479, U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit (1993).
Former Player Services Department, “Catching Up With Former Player Rep: Sam McCullum,” NFL Players Association.
Photo: NFLPA.