Bernard Clifford "Bud" Nygren (November 14, 1918 – December 26, 1984) was an

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

player and coach. He played college football at San Jose State and professional football for the

Los Angeles Dons The Los Angeles Dons were an American football team in the newly formed football league the All-America Football Conference (AAFC) from 1946 to 1949, and played their home games in the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. The Dons were the first profes ...

and

Brooklyn Dodgers The Brooklyn Dodgers were a Major League Baseball team founded in 1884 as a member of the American Association (19th century), American Association before joining the National League in 1890. They remained in Brooklyn until 1957, after which the ...

. He was the head football coach at

College of the Sequoias College of the Sequoias (COS) is a public two-year community college in Visalia, California. The college is named for the Giant Sequoia trees native to the nearby Sierra Nevada mountain range. History College of the Sequoias was originally esta ...

from 1948 to 1950.

Early years

Born in

Minneapolis Minneapolis () is the largest city in Minnesota, United States, and the county seat of Hennepin County. The city is abundant in water, with thirteen lakes, wetlands, the Mississippi River, creeks and waterfalls. Minneapolis has its origins ...

, Nygren attended

Forest Lake Area High School Forest Lake Area High School, also known as Forest Lake High School, is a public four-year high school in Forest Lake, Minnesota, United States, founded in 1909. The school is a member of Minnesota Independent School District 831 (Forest Lake Are ...

, graduating in 1936, where he was a multi-sport athlete. He began playing college football at

Gustavus Adolphus College Gustavus Adolphus College ( ) is a private liberal arts college in St. Peter, Minnesota. It was founded in 1862 by Swedish Americans led by Eric Norelius and is affiliated with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. Gustavus gets its nam ...

. He then transferred to San Jose State where he was selected as a Little All-American in 1940 and led the All-California Coast Conference in scoring. In September 1940 he was named the NBC National Player of the Week. He also received varsity letters in basketball and track and ran the 100 in 9.9 seconds. He served as a pilot in the Army Air Corps during World War II.

Professional football

In 1946, Nygren played professional football in the

All-America Football Conference The All-America Football Conference (AAFC) was a professional American football league that challenged the established National Football League (NFL) from 1946 to 1949. One of the NFL's most formidable challengers, the AAFC attracted many of the ...

as a right halfback for the

. On September 13, 1946, Nygren scored the first points in

team history on a touchdown pass from quarterback

Charlie O'Rourke Charles Christopher "Chuckin' Charlie" O'Rourke (May 10, 1917 – April 14, 2000) was an American football player and coach. He played college football as a quarterback at Boston College and professionally with Chicago Bears of the National Foo ...

. (These were also the first points ever scored by any Los Angeles professional sports franchise.) With the ball at the Dons' 40-yard line, Nygren caught the ball at the Brooklyn 30-yard line and ran the remaining distance to the end zone. Nygren was a two-way player who was known as an "exceptional defender against passes." In April 1947, the Dons traded Nygren to the

. He appeared in only one game for the Dodgers.

Coaching career

After leaving the Dodgers, Nygren served as the freshman football coach at San Jose State in 1947. He next serve as the head football coach at Visalia Junior College/

from 1948 to 1950. He became the head football coach at

Grossmont High School Grossmont High School is the oldest high school in San Diego's east county, California. Its mascot is the Foothiller, so chosen because, at the time of the school's construction, east county was much more isolated from the rest of San Diego than ...

San Diego San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the List of United States cities by population, eigh ...

in 1951.

High School Hall of Fame

Bud Nygren was a 2012 inductee to the

Arts & Athletics Hall of Fame.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nygren, Bud 1918 births 1984 deaths American football halfbacks Brooklyn Dodgers (AAFC) players Gustavus Adolphus Golden Gusties football players Los Angeles Dons players San Jose State Spartans football coaches San Jose State Spartans football players High school football coaches in California Junior college football coaches in the United States Sports coaches from Minneapolis Military personnel from Minneapolis Players of American football from Minneapolis