Ollie Matson
Football Player
Ollie Genoa Matson II is a former professional running back who played in the National Football League (1952, and 1954-1966). In addition to being an outstanding return man, Matson was also an Olympic athlete at the 1952 Summer Olympics held in Helsinki, Finland and he holds a bronze medal in the 400-meter run and a silver medal for the 4x400-meter relay.
OPEN OFFICIAL SITE >>
Biography
In today's specialized NFL, the only game action premier return men participate in on is special teams. This, however, was not always the case. Back in the earlier days of the league, the job of returning kickoffs and punts was usually reserved for the fastest or most agile athlete on the team. For this reason, Ollie Matson is in the record books for most career return touchdowns with 9. However, Matson was much more than simply an exceptional return man.
READ MORE >>
Quote
"Speed and quickness - that's what you need to return kicks. I was big, 210, but I was swift for that size. I could either run around you, over you, or through you. I didn't do a lot of hard cutting like Gale did. But we both had that peripheral vision to know where guys were going to be. And we had the speed to get there."