CULTURETECHLENSOllie Matson
VERIFIED evidence grade — build store (JSON graph)
Combined Graph record U-07713 · provenance: build store (JSON graph), record CTL-E-6841.
Ollie Matson was a Hall of Fame halfback whose Olympic sprinting speed made him one of the most coveted football players of the early 1950s. Born May 1, 1930, Matson starred at the University of San Francisco and was selected by the Chicago Cardinals in the first round of the 1952 NFL Draft, third overall. Before beginning his professional football career, he delayed signing so he could compete for the United States track team at the 1952 Helsinki Olympics, where, the Pro Football Hall of Fame records, he won a bronze medal in the 400-meter race and a silver medal in the 1,600-meter (4×400-meter) relay. Matson played for the Chicago Cardinals from 1952 to 1958, then was traded to the Los Angeles Rams in 1959 in a famous deal in which, per the Hall of Fame's account of the Rams' telegram, nine players went to the Cardinals in exchange for him; he later played for Detroit and Philadelphia before retiring after the 1966 season. Named an NFL first-team All-Pro seven times and elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1972, Matson died February 19, 2011.
Answer summary · this record in brief, from its own record text
Ollie Matson was a Hall of Fame halfback whose Olympic sprinting speed made him one of the most coveted football players of the early 1950s. Born May 1, 1930, Matson starred at the University of San Francisco and was selected by the Chicago Cardinals in the first round of the 1952 NFL Draft, third overall.
The record
- Also known as: Ollie Genoa Matson II
Notes
Sports Encyclopedia roster CTL-SPE-0407. Matson's Chicago Cardinals and Los Angeles Rams are not homed endpoints in this pass, so no team relationships are emitted. Curator's Judgment (DRAFT): Matson is one of the very few athletes to hold both Olympic medals and a Pro Football Hall of Fame bust, and his Chicago Cardinals years make him a bridge between CTL's football and track histories.
Sources
- Pro Football Hall of Fame, 'Ollie Matson, Class of 1972,' profootballhof.com, https://www.profootballhof.com/photos/gallery/photos-gallery-ollie-matson-class-of-1972/ (accessed 2026-11-03). (primary source · build store)
- 'Ollie Matson,' Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ollie_Matson (accessed 2026-11-03). (build store)
Photograph · rights-cleared record, CultureTechLens Photo Rights Log
Ollie Matson 1959
Ollie Matson 1959 — Bell Brand Snack Foods, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons. Source: CultureTechLens · view at source
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Record CTL-E-6841 · Combined Graph record U-07713 · CultureTechLens Knowledge Graph · 2 sources.
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Researched and maintained by the CultureTechLens research program · CultureTechLens Combined Graph, Release 2026-11-04. Corrections are public: the corrections log.
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Chicago: CultureTechLens. “Ollie Matson (CTL-E-6841).” CultureTechLens Combined Graph. Chicago, IL: CultureTechLens, 2026. https://culturetechlens.com/graph/entities/ctl-e-6841/
APA: CultureTechLens. (2026). Ollie Matson (CTL-E-6841) [Entity record]. CultureTechLens Combined Graph. https://culturetechlens.com/graph/entities/ctl-e-6841/
MLA: CultureTechLens. “Ollie Matson (CTL-E-6841).” CultureTechLens Combined Graph, 2026, https://culturetechlens.com/graph/entities/ctl-e-6841/
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