Hugh Rhea

{{Short description|American football player and track athlete (1909–1973)}}

{{Use mdy dates|date=June 2024}}

{{Infobox NFL biography

| name = Hugh Rhea

| image =

| caption =

| number = 25

| position = Guard, Tackle

| birth_date = {{birth date|1909|09|09}}

| birth_place = Arlington, Nebraska, U.S.

| death_date = {{death date and age|1973|10|18|1909|09|09}}

| death_place = Alachua County, Florida, U.S.

| height_ft = 6

| height_in = 3

| weight_lbs = 225

| high_school = Arlington (NE)

| college = Nebraska

| draftyear =

| draftround =

| draftpick =

| pastteams =

• Brooklyn Dodgers ({{NFL Year|1933}})

| highlights =

• First-team All-American (1930)
• Third-team All-American (1931)
• 2× First-team All-Big Six (1930, 1931)

| pfr = RheaHu20

| CollegeHOF =

}}

Hugh McCall Rhea (September 9, 1909 – October 18, 1973) was an American football player and track and field athlete.

A native of Arlington, Nebraska, Rhea attended Arlington High School and the University of Nebraska–Lincoln. He played college football for the Nebraska Cornhuskers football team and was twice selected as an All-American tackle. In 1930, he was selected as a first-team All-American by Grantland Rice for Collier's Weekly,{{cite news|title=RICE PICKS ALL-AMERICA: Ticknor and Carideo, of 1929 Eleven, Named Again on Honor Team; Two Utility Players Added to Lineup|work=Charleston Daily Mail|date=1930-12-19}} and in 1931, he was selected as a third-team All-American by the Associated Press.{{cite news|title=All Sections of Country Represented on Team; National Honors Given 1931 Grid Star|work=Reno Evening Gazette|date=1931-12-05}}

Rhea also competed in track and field for the Nebraska Cornhuskers, winning the shot put event at the 1932 NCAA Men's Track and Field Championships with an NCAA record-setting throw of 52 feet, 5¾ inches.{{cite news|title=METCALFE BREAKS THREE WORLD MARKS: Glen Cunningham Runs Fastest American Mile|newspaper=Los Angeles Times (AP wire story)|date=1932-06-12}} He later played two games as a guard in professional football for the Brooklyn Dodgers during the 1933 NFL season.{{cite web|title=Hugh Rhea|publisher=Sports Reference LLC |work=Pro-Football-Reference.com|accessdate=January 16, 2015|url=https://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/R/RheaHu20.htm}} Rhea died in Florida in 1973 at age 64,Death record for Hugh McCall Rhea. Ancestry.com. Florida Death Index, 1877-1998 [database on-line]. and he was posthumously inducted into the Nebraska Football Hall of Fame in 1986.{{cite web|title=#53 Hugh Rhea|publisher=Nebraska Huskers|accessdate=January 16, 2015|url=http://www.huskers.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=100&ATCLID=1054073}}