Ollie Cline

Ollie Cline

Date of birth:	December 31, 1925
Place of birth:	Mount Vernon, Ohio
Date of death:	May 12, 2001(2001-05-12) (aged 75)
Place of death:	Springfield, Ohio
Career information
Position(s):	Fullback
College:	Ohio State
NFL Draft:	1948 / Round: 14 / Pick 122 (By the Chicago Bears)
Organizations
As player:
1948 1949 1950-1953	Cleveland Browns (AAFC) Buffalo Bills (AAFC) Detroit Lions
Playing stats at DatabaseFootball.com

Oliver M. "Ollie" Cline (December 31, 1925 - May 12, 2001) was a college and professional American football player in the 1940s and '50s. He was nicknamed the Blond Bomber.

College career

Cline was a fullback and linebacker for the Ohio State Buckeyes, lettering in 1944, 1945 and 1947. In 1944, his blocking helped Les Horvath become the school's first Heisman Trophy winner and the Buckeyes won the 1944 Big Ten Championship with an undefeated, 9-0 record. The following year he became the Buckeyes primary running back, setting school records in rushing. His collegiate career was interrupted by military service in 1946, but he returned to lead the Buckeyes in rushing again in 1947.

MVP season

In 1945, Cline rushed for 936 yards, which was at the time a school record, surpassing Horvath's total from the previous year by a dozen yards. He was named the Big Ten Conference's Most Valuable Player and was a FWAA All-America selection.

Cline rushed for 229 yards on November 10, 1945 against the University of Pittsburgh. This performance set n Ohio State single-game rushing record that stood for 27 years before being broken by Archie Griffin in 1972.

Cline was inducted into the Ohio State Varsity O Hall of Fame in 2000 and was named to the Ohio State Football All-Century Team as a fullback that same year.

Professional career

Ollie was drafted by the Chicago Bears in 1948, but chose to play instead for the Cleveland Browns. Browns head coach Paul Brown had originally recruited Cline to Ohio State. The Browns finished undefeated that year. Cline then spent a year with the Buffalo Bills, but spent the majority of his professional career with the Detroit Lions. In 1953, he helped the Lions win the NFL championship over the Browns.

Retirement

After his playing career ended, Cline received a masters degree in education from Wittenberg University. He had a long career as an educator at various positions throughout the state, and was named Dean of Men at Urbana University. He was active in every community in which he lived. Fredericktown, Ohio recognized Cline with "Ollie Cline Day" on January 20, 2001.

Persondata
Name	Cline, Ollie
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	December 31, 1925
Place of birth	Mount Vernon, Ohio
Date of death	May 12, 2001
Place of death	Springfield, Ohio