Wisconsin Football Countdown: No. 66, Mike Thompson
By Jim Oxley
As the countdown to the first Wisconsin football game of the season continues, Badger of Honor is taking a look at Badgers by the numbers, checking in on a different Badger or Badgers players who wore the number corresponding with the remaining days until the Badgers head to Texas to take on the Alabama Crimson Tide Saturday, Sept. 5.
Next up in our countdown, signifying 66 days until college football is back, is one of the greats along Wisconsin’s defensive line, No. 66, Mike Thompson.
Wisconsin Badgers
Mike Thompson, a Portage, Wisconsin native, spent 1991-1994 with the Badgers, and started each season.
Thompson finished his career with 316 total tackles, the 18th best mark in school history. His 57 tackles for loss are the second best number all time at Wisconsin, behind only Tarek Saleh.
He’s third all time on the school’s sack total list with 28, and ranks 13th in school history for his single-season sack totals of 10 in 1993 and 9 in 1992 are tied for the 7th and 9th best single season sack performances in school history. He had a five-sack game against Northwestern in 1993.
He led the team in tackles in three of his four seasons at UW (1991, 1992, 1994), and broke the 100-tackle mark as a freshman in ’91 with 105 total.
He was a First team All-Big Ten selection in 1994, as well as a team captain.
Thompson was a fourth round selection (pick 123) in the 1995 NFL Draft by the Jacksonville Jaguars.
He spent 1995 with the Jaguars, played for the Cincinnati Bengals from 1997-1998, and played for the Cleveland Browns from 1999-2001.
Who wore No. 66 first?
• Halfback Russell Rebholz first wore No. 66 in 1931.
Who wears No. 66 now?
• Redshirt freshman Beau Benzschawel currently sports No. 66 for the Badgers.
Stay tuned to Badger of Honor as we continue our daily countdown in preparation of the season opener against Alabama.
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