Curly Oden
{{Short description|American football player (1899–1978)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=June 2024}}
{{Infobox NFL biography
| name = Curly Oden
| image = Curley Oden.jpg
| caption =
| number = 2, 12
| position = {{hlist|Running back|Punt returner}}
| birth_date = {{birth date|1899|5|10}}
| birth_place = Stockholm, Sweden
| death_date = {{death date and age|1978|8|3|1899|5|10}}
| death_place = Cranston, Rhode Island, U.S.
| height_ft = 5
| height_in = 6
| weight_lb = 163
| high_school = Classical {{nobreak|(Cranston, Rhode Island)}}
| college = Brown
| pastteams =
- Providence Steam Roller ({{NFL Year|1925|1931}})
- Boston Braves ({{NFL Year|1932}})
| highlights =
- NFL champion ({{NFL Year|1928}})
- 2× Second-team All-Pro (1926, 1928)
| pfr = OdenCu20
}}
Olaf Gustave Hazard "Curly" Oden (May 10, 1899 – August 3, 1978) was an American football running back and punt returner in the National Football League (NFL) for the Providence Steam Roller and the Boston Braves.
Biography
A native of Stockholm, Sweden, Oden attended Classical High School in Providence, Rhode Island,{{cite web|url=https://www.profootballarchives.com/playero/oden00100.html |title=Curly Oden |publisher=profootballarchives.com |access-date=September 25, 2019}} where he captained the school's ice hockey team in 1917,{{cite web |url=https://www.rihockeylegacy.com/1900-10s |title=1910s Gallery |publisher=rihockeylegacy.com |access-date=September 25, 2019 |archive-date=December 18, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191218011900/https://www.rihockeylegacy.com/1900-10s |url-status=dead }} and remained a fixture in Rhode Island hockey throughout the 1920s.{{cite web|url=https://www.rihockeylegacy.com/east-side-hockey-club |title=East Side Hockey Club |publisher=rihockeylegacy.com |access-date=September 25, 2019}}{{cite web|url=https://www.rihockeylegacy.com/richard-j-dennis-post |title=Richard J. Dennis Post |publisher=rihockeylegacy.com |access-date=September 25, 2019}} He played college football at Brown University, scoring eight touchdowns and passing for five more as a senior.{{cite web|url=https://brownbears.com/hof.aspx?hof=255 |title=Olaf G. H. Oden |publisher=brownbears.com |access-date=September 25, 2019}} Also a star shortstop, Oden was invited to a tryout for the major league Brooklyn Robins.{{cite news | title = Brooklyn Lions Drop First Game to Steam Rollers: "Curley" Oden, Once Tried by Robins, Gains 13-0 Victory for Providence | pages = 23 | newspaper = The Brooklyn Daily Eagle | location = Brooklyn, NY | date = September 27, 1926 | url = https://www.newspapers.com/clip/5198115/pdf/ }} He graduated from Brown in 1921, and was inducted into the university's athletic hall of fame in 1971.
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,{{cite web|url=https://www.pro-football-reference.com/teams/prv/1928.htm |title=1928 Providence Steam Roller Statistics & Players |publisher=pro-football-reference.com |access-date=September 25, 2019}} and played with Providence through 1931. He played a single game with the NFL's Boston Braves in 1932, his final professional season.{{cite web|url=http://www.nfl.com/player/curlyoden/2522383/profile |title=Curly Oden |work=nfl.com |access-date=September 25, 2019}} 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.{{cite web|url=https://www.profootballhof.com/news/return-to-the-record-book/ |title=Return to the Record Book |publisher=profootballhof.com |date=October 3, 2011 |access-date=September 25, 2019}}
From 1926 to 1928, Oden played summer baseball for Falmouth in the Cape Cod Baseball League. 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."{{cite news | title = Enterprise All-Cape Team | pages = 6 | newspaper = Falmouth Enterprise | location = Falmouth, MA | date = September 8, 1927 | url = http://digital.olivesoftware.com/Olive/APA/Falmouth/SharedView.Article.aspx?href=FEN%2F1927%2F09%2F08&id=Ar00615&sk=BEFEC6E4&viewMode=image }}{{cite news | title = Cape Baseball Soon | pages = 1 | newspaper = Falmouth Enterprise | location = Falmouth, MA | date = June 14, 1928 | url = http://digital.olivesoftware.com/Olive/APA/Falmouth/SharedView.Article.aspx?href=FEN%2F1928%2F06%2F14&id=Ar00122&sk=75ACCEDE&viewMode=image }}{{cite news | title = Falmouth Locals | pages = 4 | newspaper = Falmouth Enterprise | location = Falmouth, MA | date = November 15, 1928 | url = http://digital.olivesoftware.com/Olive/APA/Falmouth/SharedView.Article.aspx?href=FEN%2F1928%2F11%2F15&id=Ar00407&sk=4265637E&viewMode=image }}
References
{{1928 Providence Steam Roller}}
{{1932 Boston Braves (NFL)}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Oden, Curly}}
Category:Sportspeople from Stockholm
Category:Swedish emigrants to the United States
Category:Swedish players of American football
Category:American football running backs
Category:Brown Bears football players
Category:Boston Braves (NFL) players
Category:Providence Steam Roller players
Category:Cape Cod Baseball League players (pre-modern era)
Category:Cape Cod Baseball League coaches