Member Biography

The old adage that nice guys finish last certainly would not apply to Oklahoma's great fullback Claude Reeds. He was football's gentleman of the Southwest, a perfectionist on the gridiron who preferred to play the game hard but in the most sportsman-like manner. Reeds made it all look easy, using uncanny timing and quick reflexes to dart through opposing defenses, like water flowing through a sieve. In accord with his nature, Reeds was probably one of the most unselfish players in the game, willing to run the interference for a fellow running back, and doing it so well that his Hall of Fame coach, Bennie Owen, admitted; "He was the best shoulder blocker I ever saw." Reeds downed many a tackler during the 1911 season, when Oklahoma posted an 8-0 record and out-scored the competition, 282-15. He was an All-Southwestern selection in three of his four varsity seasons. He holds the Oklahoma distance punting record of 102 yards, set against Texas in 1911, when the field was 110 yards long. Following graduation, Reeds entered the coaching ranks and worked at several small colleges as an assistant, and later as a head coach. His ten seasons at the helm of Central Oklahoma State produced eight Oklahoma Collegiate Conference Champions.