Today’s card of the day is a 1954 Quaker Sports Oddities card of Jack Riley. Riley played tackle for one season, 1933, with the NFL’s Boston Redskins. (The Redskins moved to Washington in 1937.) Before his year with the Redskins, he starred at Northwestern University. He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1988.
As the card shows, Riley was also a wrestler. He won a silver medal as a heavyweight in the 1932 Los Angeles Olympics, and he wrestled professionally after his short pro football career. He is one of about a dozen football players in the Gallery who participated in the Olympics; you can see the rest on the Olympic Athletes on Vintage Football Cards page.
1954 Quaker Sports Oddities is a 27-card multi-sport set. According to the backs of the cards, they came in boxes of Quaker Puffed Wheat and Puffed Rice. Seven of the 27 cards picture football players and coaches; you can see those seven in the Gallery.
Now that is an oddity 🙂