Ollie Matson
| Ollie Matson | |
|---|---|
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Positions: Halfback , Flanker |
Jersey numbers: 33, 30 |
| born May 1, 1930 in Trinity , Texas | |
| died on February 19, 2011 in Los Angeles , California | |
| Career information | |
| Active : 1952 - 1966 | |
| NFL Draft : 1952 / Round: 1 / Pick: 3 | |
| College : San Francisco | |
| Teams | |
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| Career statistics | |
| Games | 172 |
| Gaining space through running play | 5,173 yards |
| Touchdowns | 73 |
| Stats at NFL.com | |
| Stats at pro-football-reference.com | |
| Career highlights and awards | |
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| Pro Football Hall of Fame | |
| College Football Hall of Fame | |
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|---|---|---|
| athletics | ||
| bronze | 1952 | 400 meter run |
| silver | 1952 | 4 × 400 meter run |
Ollie Genoa Matson II (* 1. May 1930 in Trinity , Texas ; † 19th February 2011 in Los Angeles , California ) was an American American football player and athlete . He played as halfback / fullback and flanker in the National Football League (NFL), including the Chicago Cardinals and the Los Angeles Rams .
Sports career
College football
Ollie Matson and his twin brother were born in Texas. As a teenager, he moved to California with his mother . He attended high school in San Francisco , where he was a celebrated football player and track and field athlete. After graduating from school in 1948 he studied at the College of San Francisco and from 1949 to 1951 at the University of San Francisco . He was used as a fullback by the local football team . Many later professional players, such as Bob St. Clair , Dick Stanfel and Gino Marchetti , played at the University of San Francisco .
Due to injury, Matson received little time in 1950. The following year he remained undefeated with his team in the regular season . He himself was able to contribute 21 touchdowns to this success. The defeat-free season in 1951 brought the "Dons" permission to participate in the Orange Bowl . Since those in charge of this game insisted that the team from San Francisco compete without their dark-skinned players, which would also have meant the exclusion of Ollie Matson, the team decided to refuse to participate in the bowl game . Because of his achievements as a player, Matson was voted All-American . His 21 touchdowns were national records. Immediately after the season, the college football team was disbanded and Matson became an Olympian as a track and field athlete .
athletics
Even in high school and college, Matson proved his talent as a track and field athlete. He ran the distance of 440 yards in 47 seconds. In 1952 he was nominated for the American Olympic team and took part in the Summer Olympics in Helsinki . Ollie Matson won the bronze medal in the 400 m sprint and the silver medal in the 4 × 400 m relay race with Charles Moore , Mal Whitfield and Gene Cole . Immediately after the Games, Matson ended his athletics career in favor of his career as a professional football player.
Professional football
In the 1952 NFL Draft , the Chicago Cardinals selected Ollie Matson as the third player in the first round. The Cardinals used Matson as a fullback in his rookie year , from 1954 he switched to the position of halfback . Matson had to skip the 1953 season, he had to do his military service in the US Army . From 1959 Matson played for the Los Angeles Rams , who used him in the position of fullback and flanker . To secure the rights to him, the Rams were forced to give nine players in exchange for him to the Chicago Cardinals. In 1963 Matson joined the Detroit Lions and in 1964 the Philadelphia Eagles . After the 1966 season, he finished his career in Philadelphia .
Matson could not move into the play-offs with any of his teams . However, the poor team success was offset by the individual statistics of Matson. He achieved a total of 73 touchdowns in his career, 4.2% of his kickoff returns he was able to convert into touchdowns. He is now number 5 on the all-time NFL leaderboard.
Off the track
Ollie Matson was married with four children. After his playing career, he worked as a football coach at various schools and universities. Among other things, he coached the Los Angeles High School team and was an assistant coach at San Diego State College . Matson had lived in Los Angeles since his season with the Rams . In old age Matson was demented and did not speak a word in the last four years of his life. His body was cremated . His brain was examined posthumously for a pathological examination and found serious symptoms for the neurodegenerative disease chronic traumatic encephalopathy .
Honors
Ollie Matson played six times in the Pro Bowl , the final game of the best players of the season. In 1956, he was named the game's Pro Bowl MVP . Matson has been voted All-Pro seven times . He is a member of the NFL 1950s All-Decade Team , College Football Hall of Fame , Pro Football Hall of Fame, and Philadelphia Eagles Hall of Fame . The Arizona Cardinals honor him at Sun Devil Stadium on the Ring of Honor.
Web links
- Ollie Matson in the Sports-Reference database (English; archived from the original )
- Short biography ( memento from September 21, 2012 in the web archive archive.today )
- Ollie Matson with the Cardinals
- Ollie Matson's college career (PDF; 43 kB)
- History of the University of San Francisco Dons
- obituary
Individual evidence
- ↑ Ollie Genoa Matson II was also known as Oliver Adrian Matson .
- ↑ Change from Matson to the Los Angeles Rams ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ a b Ollie Matson Obituary. legacy.com , February 2011, accessed February 21, 2017 .
- ↑ Burial of Ollie Matson
- ^ Members of the Eagles Hall of Fame. (PDF) (No longer available online.) In: philadelphiaeagles.com. Archived from the original on June 20, 2018 ; accessed on June 21, 2018 (English). Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Arizona Cardinals Ring of Honor ( Memento of the original from May 10, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Matson, Ollie |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Matson, Ollie Genoa; Matson, Oliver; Matson, Oliver Adrian |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American track and field athlete, football player and coach |
| DATE OF BIRTH | May 1, 1930 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Trinity , Texas , United States |
| DATE OF DEATH | February 19, 2011 |
| Place of death | Los Angeles , California , United States |