Ray Odums Explained

Birth Date:30 October 1951
Birth Place:United States
College:Alabama
Position:Defensive back
Number:32, 35
Highlights:
  • CFL All-Star: 1980, 1981, 1982
Teams:

Ray Odums (born October 30, 1951) is a football player who played in the CFL and USFL. He played defensive back (DB). From 1975 to 1984 Odums was DB for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, the Saskatchewan Roughriders, and the Calgary Stampeders. He was a CFL All-Star in 1980, 1981 and 1982. Later he played with the Memphis Showboats in the USFL in 1985. Odums played college football at the University of Alabama.[1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6]

Odums also was a standout guard on the Alabama Crimson Tide basketball team and played for coach CM Newton, who would start five black players in a time of racial turbulence and progress. Center Leon Douglas said, "We knew Coach Newton (signed us) because he wanted to win. He wasn't trying to be a trailblazer. You have to respect a man for putting five black starters on the court when others said it was a no-no." On December 28, 1973, in a 65-55 win at Louisville Cardinals men's basketball, Newton started Douglas, Charles "Boonie" Russell, Charles Cleveland, T.R. Dunn and Odums for the first all-black starting line-up in SEC history, and a team that would win the SEC season title.[7] [8] [9] [10]

References

http://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/alab/sports/m-baskbl/auto_pdf/2011-12/misc_non_event/1112_MBKB_Guide.pdf

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Ray Odums.
  2. Web site: Vanstone . Rob . VANSTONE: Football and politics mixed for Blakeney - CFL - Yahoo! Sports . Sports.yahoo.com . May 24, 2011 . June 2, 2011.
  3. Web site: Official Site of the Canadian Football League . CFL.ca . May 26, 2011 . June 2, 2011.
  4. Web site: Our last Grey Cup ever? . Canada.com, The Ottawa Citizen . November 26, 2006 . June 2, 2011 . dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20121110105818/http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/news/sports/story.html?id=93d77fbf-8e95-4d6f-a9dd-35831c00f5e2 . November 10, 2012 .
  5. Web site: USFL - United States Football League . Oursportscentral.com . June 2, 2011.
  6. Web site: Ray Odums football Statistics on StatsCrew.com . 2022-07-15 . www.statscrew.com . en.
  7. Web site: 1973-74 Southeastern Conference Season Summary.
  8. Web site: 1973-1974 Men's Basketball Archive.
  9. Web site: The Story of How the SEC's First All-Black Lineup Changed Hoops Forever. October 2015.
  10. Web site: The University of Alabama basketball program made a stand of its own for civil rights. October 16, 2013.