Ouachita Baptist University Athletics

Robert L. "Red" Nelson was known as one of Arkansas' top sportsmen.

He was a star athlete in high school and college, a high school coach, a high school and college football and basketball official for many years, a baseball umpire and track starter, a businessman who built one of the largest retailers of team athletic supplies in the South, a fisherman, and an avid dove, duck, and quail hunter. 

Red came to Ouachita in 1942 and went on to earn 11 letters - four in football, four in basketball, and three in baseball. His collegiate career was put on pause while he served in for two years in the U.S. Army Air Forces. After returning to Ouachita, he set what was then a school record for most points in a game, 38. He was an honorable mention All-State selection in 1947-48.

During his high school playing career, one of Nelson's many accolades including playing in the state of Arkansas' first high school football all-star game. 

After his playing career, and following a brief stint as a coach, Nelson joined his brother, Lowell, in a business venture that is now known as Southwest Sports Goods. He remained heavily involved in the sport as the state's top track starter for several decades, and was part of the group that attracted the NAIA national track & field championships to Henderson State University from 1973-77. He passed away in 2011, but his legacy lives on through the voice and writing of his son, Rex, who is one of the state's top historians and also the play-by-play radio voice for the Ouachita Tigers football team.