University of San Francisco Athletics

Ollie Genoa Matson II was born on May 1, 1930, in Trinity, TX and attended George Washington High School. In high school he excelled at track. He won the City Championship in both the 100 and the 220 yard dashes. In his senior year, he entered an open meet held at Kezar Stadium and ran the 440 yard dash competitively for the first time, and finished second at 47 seconds to Herb McKinley, who ran a new world record of 46.1 seconds.

He attended City College of San Francisco where he met fellow teammate Burl Toler prior to transferring to USF. Matson, whose mother wanted him to be a dentist, had arrived with no high school football experience and one afternoon was seen walking down a hallway at City College. A member of the coaching staff told him that he was late for football practice and when he said he wasn’t on the team, the man said he was big enough to try out. At City he scored 19 touchdowns in 11 games, setting a National Junior College record in 1948. Matson’s performances also caught the attention of university scouts.

Standing 6 feet 2 inches and weighing 220 pounds, many people wondered how Matson had the ability to run so fast. When asked, he explained: “Speed and quickness, that’s what you need to return kicks. I was big, but I was swift for that size. I could either run past you, over you, or through you. I didn’t do a lot of hard cutting like Gale Sayers did. But we both had the peripheral vision to know where guys were going to be, and we had that speed to get there (USF Athletics).” Matson was indisputably one of the best running backs in football, and he was as tough on defense as any of the Dons. When opponents taunted him with racial epithets, Matson replied with bruising tackles (Sports Illustrated).
 
He played for the Dons and his senior year led the nation in rushing yardage and in touchdowns. His first year he scored seven touchdowns with a season-long of a 92-yard run, and scored 13 touchdowns his junior year. His senior year Matson scored 17 touchdowns in seven games, and set a track record that same year. He was selected as an All-American, and finished ninth in balloting for the Heisman Trophy that year. He was also named to the 1950’s All-Decade Team. 
 
Under Head Coach Joe Kuharich, the Dons went undefeated at 9-0 in the 1951 season. With two African-American players on the team, Toler and Ollie Matson they were not invited to any postseason bowl games. The owner of the Gator Bowl, Sam Wolfson had made an agreement with the Orange and Sugar Bowls to omit teams with black players. When the Orange Bowl extended an invitation to them, on the condition that the two African-American players be excluded, the team unanimously declined, and from then on they were called the “undefeated, untied, and uninvited.” Although the Dons had been denied a bowl berth, the entire team was recognized at the 2008 Fiesta Bowl, at long last making an appearance in a bowl game. 

Unfortunately, without postseason funding, USF was forced to shut down its football program the following year. Attendance at the Kezar games had declined 80% since the arrival of the 49ers in 1946. The squad featured nine future NFL players, including Pro Football Hall of Fame members Matson, Marchetti, and St. Clair, and five earned Pro Bowl selections at some point in their career. The team’s Sports Information Director, Pete Rozelle, served as NFL Commissioner for 29 years.

He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1976.  Prior to joining the NFL, Matson competed in the United States Olympics in 1952 at Helsinki and won a silver medal as part of the 4x400-meter relay team, and a bronze in the 400-meter run.

He was selected by the Chicago Cardinals in the first round (3^rd pick overall) of the 1952 NFL Draft, and shared Rookie of the Year Honors with Hugh McElhenny of the San Francisco 49ers. Matson missed the 1953 season while serving in the United States Army and was named MVP on the All-Army football team. In 1957, he played wide receiver for the Cardinals. When the team finished 3-9, some criticized coach Ray Richards for taking Matson out of his running back position. The next head coach remarked that the opposing teams feared him so much as a flanker, that they always double-teamed him. Matson finished the 1957 season with 134 carries for 577 yards, and six touchdowns. He also caught 20 passes for 451 yards and 3 touchdowns. 

He would later play for the Detroit Lions and the Philadelphia Eagles, earning Pro-Bowl honors six times. In 1959, the Rams traded a record nine players to acquire him. When Matson retired in 1966, his yardage was second only to Jim Brown. After retirement he worked as a teacher, coach, and football scout. He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1972.