Odis LeGrand

Inducted 2015

Odis LeGrand exemplified the Greater Minnesota broadcaster. An outstanding athlete who grew up to be an exceptional coach, physical education teacher, and city recreation director, Oats personally touched the lives of thousands of Minnesota students and was an outspoken advocate for rural sports programs. He was inducted into the Minnesota High School Football Coaches Hall of Fame in 1974, named the Region 13 College Track Coach of the Year in 1974, and became a charter member of the Fergus Falls Sports Hall of Fame in 1986.

As a broadcaster, LeGrand’s career is legendary. When he started in 1952, at the age of 36, he was paid $2.50 per game. By the time he retired he had called more than 4,400 local sporting events including baseball, football, volleyball, basketball, wrestling, hockey, swimming, boxing, rodeo, and stock-car races on four Fergus Falls radio stations: KGDE, KOTE, KBRF, and KJJK. He was named the Minnesota Sportscaster of the Year in 1978 and recognized as the “Voice of Small Town America” by Sports Illustrated in 1985. He called his last game on his 77th birthday on September 2, 1993. Governor Arne Carlson proclaimed it “Odis ‘Oats’ LeGrand Day.”

Odis LeGrand passed away August 28, 2012, just five days shy of his 96th birthday.