Olaf Gustave Hazard "Curly" Oden (May 10, 1899 – August 3, 1978) was an

American football American football, referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada and also known as gridiron football, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular American football field, field with goalposts at e ...

running back A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive American football plays#Offensive terminology, handoffs from the quarterback to Rush (American football)#Offense ...

and

punt returner A return specialist or kick returner is a player on the special teams unit of a gridiron football team who specializes in returning punt (gridiron football), punts and kickoff (gridiron football), kickoffs. There are few players who are exclusivel ...

in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

(NFL) for the Providence Steam Roller and the Boston Braves.

Biography

A native of

Stockholm, Sweden Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...

, Oden attended Classical High School in

Providence, Rhode Island Providence () is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Rhode Island, most populous city of the U.S. state of Rhode Island. The county seat of Providence County, Rhode Island, Providence County, it is o ...

, where he captained the school's

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. Tw ...

team in 1917, and remained a fixture in Rhode Island hockey throughout the 1920s. He played

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

Brown University Brown University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Providence, Rhode Island, United States. It is the List of colonial colleges, seventh-oldest institution of higher education in the US, founded in 1764 as the ' ...

, scoring eight touchdowns and passing for five more as a senior. Also a star

shortstop Shortstop, abbreviated SS, is the baseball positions, baseball or softball fielding position between second base, second and third base, which is considered to be among the Defensive spectrum, most demanding defensive positions. Historically, the ...

, Oden was invited to a tryout for the major league Brooklyn Robins. He graduated from Brown in 1921, and was inducted into the university's athletic hall of fame in 1971. In 1921, Brown head coach Harry Pattee honored Oden as the godfather for his son, Jay Pattee. Oden's NFL career began with Providence in 1925, and he soon became a star player. He was a member of the Steam Roller's 1928 league championship squad, and played with Providence through 1931. He played a single game with the NFL's Boston Braves in 1932, his final professional season. In his career, Oden rushed for eight touchdowns, caught four more in the air, passed for two, and scored five on kickoff and punt returns, a league record at the time. From 1926 to 1928, Oden played summer baseball for Falmouth in the

Cape Cod Baseball League The Cape Cod Baseball League (CCBL or Cape League) is a collegiate summer baseball wooden bat league located on Cape Cod in the U.S. state of Massachusetts. One of the nation's premier collegiate summer leagues, the league boasts over 1,000 forme ...

. An all-league shortstop who also managed the team in 1927 and 1928, Oden was known for his "timely hitting and accurate throwing," and was "the king of the base stealers in the league," having "thrilled the crowds on several occasions by stealing home."

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Oden, Curly 1899 births 1978 deaths Sportspeople from Stockholm Swedish emigrants to the United States Swedish players of American football American football running backs Brown Bears football players Boston Braves (NFL) players Providence Steam Roller players Cape Cod Baseball League players (pre-modern era) Cape Cod Baseball League coaches Falmouth Commodores players Classical High School alumni