Wisconsin Football Countdown: No. 80, Dave Schreiner
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 80 days until college football is back, is one of Wisconsin football’s legends: Dave Schreiner.
Wisconsin Badgers
Schreiner spent 1940-42 at UW and quickly became one of the best two-way players in Wisconsin history.
A two-way end, Schreiner was the captain of the 1942 Badgers squad that finished 8-1-1. He became the first Wisconsin player to record three touchdown receptions in a single quarter, and was a three-year letter winner for the Badgers.
He was the Chicago Tribune Big Ten MVP in 1942, and a consensus All-American. Schreiner was the second Badgers player in school history to make the Heisman ballot, finishing 10th in 1942 (Howard Weiss took sixth in 1938).
Schreiner served his country in World War II, and was killed in action in Okinawa in 1945.
Following his death in the war, he was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1955, and was inducted into the Wisconsin Athletic Department Hall of Fame upon its creation in 1991.
He’s a member of Wisconsin’s All-Time Team, which was voted on by fans in conjunction with the centennial celebration of college football in 1969.
His jersey was retired by Wisconsin, and his name and number adorn the walls at Camp Randall today.
Who wore No. 80 first?
• Fullback Don Dunaway first wore No. 80 in 1927.
Who wore No. 80 last?
• Only one player put on No. 80 after Schreiner — right guard Jerry Stalcup in 1958. Only five players in Wisconsin history wore the number: Dunaway, center Neil Pohl (1934), guard Ervin Johnson (1937), Schreiner and Stalcup.
Stay tuned to Badger of Honor as we continue our daily countdown in preparation of the season opener against Alabama.
Next: Wisconsin Football Experience