Badgers Fan Spotlight: Highlighting Wisconsin Fans Everywhere

Badgers fan, are you missing the intensity of watching your favorite team take the field/court/ice/diamond/track and wishing you could share in some unique fan experiences?

This summer, Badger of Honor will make whole pages dedicated to the best Badgers fan week after week.

Mary Langenfeld-USA TODAY Sports

All you need to do is send an email to badgerofhonorfs@gmail.com and we’ll take it from there.  If you want to do an interview over the phone or through messaging, please let us know.

Are you a student or alumnus of UW-Madison who jumped around, or are you a fan from a distant and far away land? Are you a trading card and memorabilia collector? Do you have season tickets to softball? Did you travel to Seattle for volleyball? Did you once meet Barry Alvarez or get yelled at by Bo Ryan?

We want to hear it all.

We want everyone who thinks themselves to be an elite Badgers fan to tell us their stories, share  pictures and memories on what makes you the best Badgers fan you can be.

I, Jon Rzepecki, will start things off and I hope every reader will try and follow my lead.

What kind of Badgers fan are you?

I collect football cards, with some baseball and basketball, but football is my main vice and I’ve been collecting for about 18 years.

My favorite Badger is Ron Dayne, followed by Lee Evans, Joe Thomas, J.J. Watt, Montee Ball, Nick Toon, and the list goes on.

What is your favorite item in your collection? 

My Dayne autographed football. I got it as a birthday present and it even has a “99 Heisman” inscription. I have also traded for many cards and photos over the years, so its companion piece is a 16×20 auto of Dayne in a Giants uniform.

Courtesy Jon Rzepecki

A close second would be a signed felt pennant from Lee Evans during the Super Bowl XL NFL Experience in Detroit. I was one of the last three people in line and Evans told me I was the only one to bring anything Wisconsin to him the entire day.

Do you only collect Badgers?

No, but it’s more than 50 percent. My Packers collection is hefty, but that has a lot to do with Brett Favre. I’ve tried to get more diversified in what I buy or trade for. I also have some Brewers, Bucks, and general sports items.

Memories of Madison?

I have only been to the campus one time, and that was for a football camp when I was going to be a junior. The campus is nice, but their athletics facilities are magnificent. I got to meet coaches and get tips, plus work out and learn inside state-of-the-art facilities. Plus I met people that were bigger than me, which is always a bit weird.

What do you do on Game Day?

My main job is a sports writer for MLive.com, but I do have access to some TVs if I’m working late on Saturdays. When basketball season is in full swing I usually put it on the DVR or follow on my phone because weeknights are pretty busy.

What do you wear on Game Day?

I love to wear jerseys. I wear them at home and I can wear them at work. My collection is getting a little full as I own a ragged Dayne Giants, Chris Chambers orange ‘Phins, Evans away throwback Bills, Russell Wilson gray ‘Hawks, home Watt, and that’s just the professional ones. I may not agree with everything the NCAA does with no-named jerseys, but I have found some inexpensive ones of 20, 28, 32 or you know … James White, Ball and John Clay. Plus I still have my mesh camp pads cover.

Courtesy Jon Rzepecki

What sets you apart from other fans?

Hopefully not that much. Hopefully everyone out there can see this and think they show their love for the Cardinal and White just as much, if not more, than I do.

Once again, just email badgerofhonorfs@gmail.com to submit information for a whole page to yourself just like this one.