Patrick John "Kangaroo Kicker" O'Dea (17 March 1872 – 5 April 1962) was an

Australian rules Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an Australian rules football playing field, oval field, often a modified ...

and

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

player and coach. An

Australian Australian(s) may refer to: Australia * Australia, a country * Australians, citizens of the Commonwealth of Australia ** European Australians ** Anglo-Celtic Australians, Australians descended principally from British colonists ** Aboriginal Aus ...

by birth, O'Dea played

Australian rules football Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an Australian rules football playing field, oval field, often a modified ...

for the

Melbourne Football Club The Melbourne Football Club, nicknamed the Demons or colloquially the Dees, is a professional Australian rules football club based in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It competes in the Australian Football League (AFL), the sport's premier comp ...

in the

Victorian Football Association The Victorian Football League (VFL) is an Australian rules football competition in Australia operated by the Australian Football League (AFL) as a second-tier, regional, semi-professional competition. It includes teams from clubs based in east ...

(VFA). In 1898 and 1899, O'Dea played American football at the

University of Wisconsin–Madison The University of Wisconsin–Madison (University of Wisconsin, Wisconsin, UW, UW–Madison, or simply Madison) is a public land-grant research university in Madison, Wisconsin, United States. It was founded in 1848 when Wisconsin achieved st ...

in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

, where he excelled in the kicking game. He then served as the head football coach at the

University of Notre Dame The University of Notre Dame du Lac (known simply as Notre Dame; ; ND) is a Private university, private Catholic research university in Notre Dame, Indiana, United States. Founded in 1842 by members of the Congregation of Holy Cross, a Cathol ...

from 1900 to 1901 and at the

University of Missouri The University of Missouri (Mizzou or MU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Columbia, Missouri, United States. It is Missouri's largest university and the flagship of the four-campus Univers ...

in 1902, compiling a career

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

record of 19–7–2. Following his Australian Rules and American Football careers, O'Dea deliberately disappeared from the public eye, however he helped popularise Australian rules football in the United States as a participation sport while working in

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

by training schoolchildren in the kicking game. O'Dea was inducted into the

College Football Hall of Fame The College Football Hall of Fame is a hall of fame and interactive Tourist attraction, attraction devoted to college football, college American football. The National Football Foundation (NFF) founded the Hall in 1951 to immortalize the players ...

as a player in 1962.

Early life

O'Dea was born in Kilmore, Victoria, Australia, to an Irish-born father and a Victorian-born mother. He was the third child of seven children. As a child he attended Christian Brothers College and

Xavier College Xavier College is a Roman Catholic, day and boarding school predominantly for boys, founded in 1872 by the Society of Jesus, with its main campus located in Kew, an eastern suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Classes started in 1878. The ...

. As a 16-year-old, he received a bronze medallion from the Royal Humane Society of Australasia for rescuing a woman at Mordialloc beach.

Playing career

O'Dea played American football at the

, where he was their star fullback from 1896–1899 and captained the 1898 and 1899 teams. In those days, fullbacks punted and often did the placekicking. In the 1898 edition of the Northwestern game, which was played in a

blizzard A blizzard is a severe Winter storm, snowstorm characterized by strong sustained winds and low visibility, lasting for a prolonged period of time—typically at least three or four hours. A ground blizzard is a weather condition where snow th ...

, he drop-kicked a 62-yard

field goal A field goal (FG) is a means of scoring in gridiron football. To score a field goal, the team in possession of the ball must place kick, or drop kick, the ball through the goal, i.e., between the uprights and over the crossbar. Consequently, ...

, and he had a 116-yard punt. This earned him the nickname "Kangaroo Kicker". Wisconsin then headed into a

Thanksgiving Day Thanksgiving is a national holiday celebrated on various dates in October and November in the United States, Canada, Saint Lucia, Liberia, and unofficially in countries like Brazil and Germany. It is also observed in the Australian territory ...

showdown with 1898 Western champions Michigan, with only the narrow loss to Yale marring their record. New songs were composed for the occasion, including “Oh, Pat O’Dea” to the popular tune “Margery”. The chorus ran:

"Oh Pat O’Dea, oh Pat O’Dea, We love you more and more. Oh Pat O’Dea, oh Pat O’Dea, You’re the boy that we adore; Your leg is ever sure and true, And always kicks a goal or two. The team and rooters worship you. Oh Pat O’Dea."

In the 1899 game, he returned a kick-off 90 yards for a

touchdown A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Scoring a touchdown grants the team that scored it 6 points. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchd ...

, and he had four field goals. He was selected as an

All-America The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed on outstanding athletes in the United States who are considered to be among the best athletes in their respective sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an Al ...

n team member in 1899. O'Dea also competed in

track and field Track and field (or athletics in British English) is a sport that includes Competition#Sports, athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name used in North America is derived from where the sport takes place, a ru ...

for Wisconsin as a hurdler.

Coaching career

Notre Dame

From 1900 to 1901, O'Dea coached at the

, compiling a 14–4–2 record.

Missouri

O'Dea was the tenth head football coach for the

Columbia, Missouri Columbia is a city in Missouri, United States. It was founded in 1821 as the county seat of Boone County, Missouri, Boone County and had a population of 126,254 as recorded in the 2020 United States census, making it the List of cities in Misso ...

, serving for one season, in 1902, and compiled a record of 5–3.

Later life

O'Dea introduced Australian rules at the

University of Wisconsin A university () is an institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly means "community of teachers and scholars". Uni ...

and while working in

also trained schoolchildren, resulting in the adoption of the field kicking game known as "field ball" by the San Francisco public grammar schools. He disappeared from public view in 1917, having decided that he didn't like being treated as a celebrity, and it was assumed by Wisconsin fans that O'Dea had died fighting in

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. In 1934, he was discovered living under an assumed name in California and came back to Wisconsin to a hero's welcome. He later appeared on

Bob Hope Leslie Townes "Bob" Hope (May 29, 1903 – July 27, 2003) was an American comedian, actor, entertainer and producer with a career that spanned nearly 80 years and achievements in vaudeville, network radio, television, and USO Tours. He appeared ...

's All-American football team announcement shows. He was inducted into the

on 3 April 1962. He died the next day at the University of California, San Francisco Medical Center. Pat O'Dea died on 4 April 1962 at the age of 90 after an illness. While he was in hospital he received a get-well message from President John Kennedy. O'Dea's obituary in the New York Times commented on his kicking achievements including a 110-yard punt, though against Minnesota in 1897 and not Yale in 1899, and his 62-yard goal against Northwestern in 1898.

Head coaching record

References

External links

*
O'Dea, Patrick John (Pat) (1872–1962)
Australian Dictionary of Biography
Profile
at DemonWiki {{DEFAULTSORT:Odea, Pat 1872 births 1962 deaths 19th-century players of American football American football drop kickers American football fullbacks American football punters Australian players of American football Melbourne Football Club (VFA) players Essendon Football Club (VFA) players Kirksville Osteopaths football coaches Missouri Tigers football coaches Notre Dame Fighting Irish football coaches Wisconsin Badgers football players Wisconsin Badgers men's track and field athletes College Football Hall of Fame inductees Australian rules footballers from Victoria (state) People educated at Xavier College Footballers who switched code Australian male hurdlers