Hall of Fame
Position: Halfback/Tackle
Years: 1923-1925
Place of Birth: Chelsea, MA
Date of Birth: Feb 17, 1905
Place of Death: Mount Vernon, NY
Date of Death: Jan 01, 1968
Jersey Number: 54
Height: 6-0
Weight: 197
High School: Everett, MA (Everett HS)
His full name was Andrew James Oberlander. He was sometimes called Andy, sometimes Jim. Most often he was "Swede," a nickname he acquired because he had blonde hair. He played tackle for Dartmouth in 1923, halfback the next two years, and was All-America in 1925. That year he passed for 14 touchdowns and ran for 12. In a 62-13 victory over Cornell, Oberlander had 477 yards in total offense. He ran 19 times for 160 yards. He hit 11 of 14 passes for 317 yards and six touchdowns.He made a 55-yard punt. In an interview, he said he timed himself on long pass plays by reciting these words: "Ten thousand Swedes jumped out of the weeds at the Battle of Copenhagen." Dartmouth was 8-0 in 1925 and was named national champion by Frank Dickinson and Parke Davis. Oberlander was assistant coach at Ohio State 1926-29. He was head coach at Wesleyan 1930-33 with a 15-12-3 record. While at Wesleyan he commuted to Yale and graduated from medical school. He was a practicing physician the rest of his life, working as a medical director of Prudential Insurance, first in Chicago, then in Newark. In World War II he was a lieutenant commander in the Navy, chief medical officer aboard the USS Samar, a ship in the Pacific fleet. When the war ended, many U.S. troops remained in the Far East and played football games. Oberlander was the winning coach when Navy beat Army 12-0 in the China Bowl Nov. 30, 1945, at Shanghai. He was born Feb. 17, 1905, in Chelsea, Massachusetts, and died Jan. 1, 1968, in Mount Vernon, New York. In 1996 his son, David, wrote a book "Swede: the Will to Win", a biography of a man who had high ideals and always worked to achieve them, in football and in life.
