Claude Reeds

Bio

Oklahoma fullback Claude Reeds was a great passer, runner and punter. His versatility made him a devastating offensive force. He was preceded at OU by three football playing brothers. Greatly feared by the opposition, he was forced to miss one game when another school trumped up an eligibility question. One of his most memorable runs came on a 70-yard fake punt when he slid past defenders on a mud-covered field. 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.