Orson Kent Ryan (February 2, 1915 – February 3, 2006) was an American professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

player who was a

defensive back In gridiron football, defensive backs (DBs), also called the secondary, are the players on the defensive side of the ball who play farthest back from the line of scrimmage. They are distinguished from the other two sets of defensive players, the ...

for three seasons (1938, 1939, and 1940) for the

Detroit Lions The Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit. The Lions compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. The team plays their home game ...

of 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). He also served in the Army and was called in to serve in the South Pacific in 1941 for 5 years. He, along with

Don Hutson Donald Montgomery Hutson (January 31, 1913 – June 26, 1997), nicknamed "the Alabama Antelope", was an American professional football player and coach in the National Football League (NFL). In the era of the one-platoon football, he played a ...

and

Ace Parker Clarence McKay "Ace" Parker (May 17, 1912 – November 6, 2013) was an American football and baseball player and coach. He played professional football as a quarterback, tailback and safety in the National Football League (NFL) for the Brooklyn ...

, led the league in

interception In Ball game, ball-playing Competitive sport, competitive team sports, an interception or pick is a move by a player involving a pass of the ball—whether by foot or hand, depending on the rules of the sport—in which the ball is intended for ...

s with 6 for the 1940 season, the first in which the NFL kept records.

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* 1915 births 2006 deaths All-American college men's basketball players People from Midvale, Utah Players of American football from Salt Lake County, Utah American football halfbacks Detroit Lions players Utah State Aggies football players Utah State Aggies men's basketball players American men's basketball players 20th-century American sportsmen {{defensiveback-1910s-stub