As another Iowa football season gets underway, local football fans have plenty of reasons to be excited. In recent years, Northwest Iowa has proudly watched athletes like Adam Timmerman and Cooper DeJean achieve success on football’s biggest stage. Seeing these guys from small-town Iowa rise from Friday night lights to the National Football League is something that captures the imagination of football fans across the state.
Recently watching Cooper’s success got me wondering: Has my hometown of Alta ever produced an athlete who made it to the NFL?
I assumed that if it had happened, it would be common knowledge. Instead, that simple question led me down a path of research that uncovered one of the most remarkable and largely forgotten stories in our community’s athletic history.
His name was Oliver “Ollie” Sansen.
Over the last several months, I have been researching Ollie’s life and athletic career. With assistance from the University of Iowa Archives, historical newspapers and athletic records, I have pieced together the story of a young man who grew up in Alta, became a captain and Most Valuable Player for the Iowa Hawkeyes, played professional football in the NFL, served his country during World War II, and built a successful life beyond athletics.
What I discovered was far more impressive than I ever expected.
Born and raised in Alta, Sansen graduated from Alta High School in the late 1920s. Even before his college career began, he had already established himself as an exceptional athlete. Records from the 1928 Iowa High School State Track Meet show Ollie competing in seven events: the 120-yard hurdles, 220-yard low hurdles, high jump, long jump, shot put, discus and javelin.
It is difficult to imagine many modern athletes competing in seven events at a state meet, but that was the kind of athlete Alta produced nearly a century ago.
After graduation, Sansen continued his athletic career at the University of Iowa.
There, the former Cyclone became a Hawkeye.
While playing fullback for Iowa, Ollie earned the respect of teammates and coaches alike. University records show that he wore jersey number 44 and excelled in an era when players were expected to contribute on offense, defense and special teams.
In 1930 and 1931, his teammates selected him as the Hawkeyes’ Most Valuable Player.
In his senior year as a Hawkeye, he achieved one of the highest honors available in college football when he was elected Team Captain of the University of Iowa football team.
Sansen was also a letter winner in track and field, competing in the shot put and javelin while balancing the demands of Big Ten football.
The University of Iowa took notice of the young man from Northwest Iowa. One Hawkeye publication describing Sansen proudly stated:
“Alta, Iowa, is proud of its native son.”
His accomplishments did not end in Iowa City.
Following college, Sansen played four seasons in the National Football League with the Brooklyn Dodgers. During his professional career, he appeared in 41 NFL games and started 22 of them.
To the best of my research, Ollie remains the only known athlete from the Alta-Aurelia area to have played in the National Football League.
Like many members of his generation, his impact extended beyond sports. During World War II, Sansen served as a Second Lieutenant in the Army Air Forces. After the war, he went on to enjoy a successful professional career and was eventually recognized as one of the nation’s top automobile salesmen.
Yet despite all of these accomplishments, most people in our area have never heard his name.
As the lights come on at football fields across Iowa this fall and communities gather to support another generation of student-athletes, it seems like an appropriate time to remember one of the most accomplished athletes our area has ever produced.
The story of Ollie Sansen is more than a football story. It is a reminder that extraordinary achievements can begin in small towns. Long before television contracts, NIL agreements, and packed stadiums, a young man from Alta competed at the highest levels of college football, played in the NFL, served his country, and carried the values of a small Iowa community wherever he went.
As Iowa State and Iowa prepare for another Cy-Hawk battle, it seems fitting to shine a light on one of the most accomplished Alta Cyclones turned Iowa Hawkeye.
From Alta High School to the University of Iowa and ultimately the National Football League, Ollie Sansen’s journey remains one of the most remarkable athletic stories our community has ever produced.
Few small towns can say that.
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