Gridiron Greats Back Issues 1 - 22: Not available for sale through this website. Summer, 2004, Issue, No. 8. Get your subscription going today. |
Spring 2004 Magazine
|
Patrick John O'Dea
Patrick John O'Dea (1872-1962) was born in Kilmore, Victoria, Australia. He played Australian Rules football briefly for the Melbourne Football Club, but became famous after he followed his brother Andy, a rowing coach, to the USA.
He played football for the University of Wisconsin from 1896 to 1899, captaining the team in 1898 and 1899. Pat O'Dea’s spectacular punting, drop-kicking and goal kicking skills made him legendary and he was one of the leading full-backs of the pre-forward pass era. O'Dea, along with players such as Clarence Herschberger of the University of Chicago, did much to erase the snobbery and superiority of the leading eastern teams of Harvard, Yale, Princeton and Penn
Oorang Indians
Five different National Football League teams have used the nickname “Indians” over the course of its previous 84 seasons. These squads were all located in the state of Ohio, operating in the first 11 formative years of major league professional football in the United States. Cleveland housed three such clubs while Akron also gave the name a try.
Most interesting, however, was a team from tiny LaRue, Ohio, the smallest city ever to have claimed the rights to an NFL team. They were called the Oorang Indians.
Wisconsin's Lake To Lake Dairy
Wisconsin's Lake To Lake Dairy produced two trading card sets in the early 1960s, both of which have since found a place in the hearts of collectors. Although the cards are considered crude by modern standards, both the 1960 Lake To Lake baseball set and the 1961 football set produced noteworthy items.
The Lake To Lake baseball set featured the Milwaukee (now Atlanta) Braves, and contained an early card for Hank Aaron, depicting the rising young star 15 years before he broke Babe Ruth's home run record. The football set featured players for Vince Lombardi's Green Bay Packers.
AFL programs
