University Of Wisconsin Football

This treasure trove contains never-before-published vintage photographs, artwork and memorabilia drawn from Wisconsin's extensive campus archives.

From their humble beginnings as an intramural club in 1889 to Rose Bowl champions in 1994, 1999, and 2000, the Wisconsin Badgers have risen among the ranks of college football to become one of the elite teams in the nation. The University of Wisconsin football program can claim 11 conference championships, 16 bowl game appearances (8-8 record), and 7 National College Football Hall of Famers. The legendary names of Pat O'Dea, Alan Ameche, and Ron Dayne may span decades, but they are timelessly united in meaning to generations of the Badger faithful. Great coaches like Phillip King, "Ivy" Williamson, and Barry Alvarez likewise share a winning tradition that dates back more than 100 years. Each season Wisconsin football fans return to fill the seats--all 80,000 plus--at Camp Randall stadium to witness more history in the making.

On December 11, 1941, All-American football player Dave Schreiner wrote to his parents, "I'm not going to sit here snug as a bug, playing football, when others are giving their lives for their country. ... If everyone tried to stay out of it, what a fine country we'd have!" Schreiner didn't stay out of it. Neither did his Wisconsin Badger teammates, including friend and co-captain Mark "Had" Hoskins and standouts "Crazylegs" Hirsch and Pat Harder. After that legendary 1942 season, the Badgers scattered to serve, fight, and even die around the world. This fully revised edition of the popular hardcover includes follow-up research and updates about many of the '42 Badgers, plus a new foreword by Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and author David Maraniss. Readers and reviewers agree: Terry Frei's heart-wrenching story of Schreiner and his band of brothers is much more than one team's tale. It's an All-American story.

Whether rediscovering the best team moments, or initiating into the histories and traditions of Badger fandom, this book about the University of Wisconsin–Madison football team is both a useful resource and cherishable memorabilia. Packed with anecdotes of the players, explanations about the beginnings of rivalries and traditions, detailed histories about the greatest players and moments in the school’s history, lists of the most successful seasons, recaps of the most exciting games ever played, and year-by-year statistics, this collectible book is the primary source for anyone eager to be an expert regarding anything about the Badgers. The book captures the essence of what it means to be a true Wisconsin fan: Camp Randall Stadium, “On Wisconsin!,” cardinal and white, the Paul Bunyan axe, back-to-back Rose Bowl victories, the Bud Song, Bucky Badger, Fifth Quarter, the “Motion ‘W’.”

It’s America’s most popular sport, played by thousands, watched by millions, and generating billions in revenues every year. It’s also America’s most controversial sport, haunted by the specter of life-threatening injuries and plagued by scandal, even among its most venerable personalities and institutions. At the college level, we often tie football’s tales of corruption and greed to its current popularity and revenue potential, and we have vague notions of a halcyon time--before the new College Football Playoff, power conferences, and huge TV contracts. Perhaps we conjure images of young Ivy Leaguers playing a gentleman’s game, exemplifying the collegial in collegiate. What we don’t imagine is a game described in 1905, not today, as "a social obsession--this boy-killing, man-mutillating, education-prostituting, gladiatorial sport." In The Opening Kickoff, Dave Revsine tells the riveting story of the formative period of American football (1890-1915). It was a time that saw the game’s meteoric rise, fueled by overflow crowds, breathless newspaper coverage and newfound superstars—including one of the most thrilling and mysterious the sport has ever seen. But it was also a period racked by controversy in academics, recruiting, and physical brutality that, in combination, threatened football’s very existence. A vivid storyteller, Revsine brings it all to life in a captivating narrative.

He was just another walk-on player--who became part of one of the most extraordinary teams in college football history. During his four years with the University of Wisconsin Badgers, Chris Kennedy experienced the team's transformation from mediocrity to Rose Bowl glory under coach Barry Alvarez. In this intimate, candid memoir, Kennedy shares a behind-the-scenes account of the thrills and frustrations of the college athlete. His story will touch the hearts of Badger fans and everyone who ever chased the dream of becoming Number One.

Taking a decade-by-decade approach to the University of Wisconsin football tradition, this collection brings together over 40 stories from the most outstanding voices of the program. The spirit of Badger football is not captured by just one phrase, one season, or one particular game; instead, the student-athletes and coaches who made the magic happen over six decades blend their experiences to capture the true essence of their beloved school. From Pat Richter looking back on a career that included one of history's greatest Rose Bowls and Al Toon talking about playing for Dave McClain, to Joe Rudolph remembering the rebirth of UW football under Barry Alvarez and Brett Bielema sharing his passion for coaching, Wisconsin fans will relish the intimate stories told by the figures they have come to cherish.