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 77 days until college football is back, is Wendell Bryant.
Wisconsin Badgers
At UW from 1998 to 2001, Bryant was on monster on the Badgers defensive line.
Bryant had a knack for getting in the backfield. He’s fifth all time at Wisconsin with 24 career sacks, and he’s ninth all time at UW with 41 career tackles for loss.
He’s tied for second all time at UW (with Daryl Sims and Tim Jordan) with 6 tackles for a loss in a single game, which came September 22, 2001 against Penn State. He’s also second in school history (tied with Mike Thompson, Tom Burke, and Alex Lewis) with 5 sacks in a game, coming in that 2001 matchup against Penn State.
Bryant was Wisconsin’s leading tackler in each of his three seasons as a starter, totaling 48 tackles in both 1999 and 2000, and leading the team with 69 tackles in 2001, for a career total of 165.
He was a Rotary Lombardi Award semi-finalist in both 2000 and 2001, a Football news Player of the Year semi finalist in 2001, the Big Ten Co-Lineman of the Year in 2000, and the sole owner of the award in 2001, and an All-American in 2001.
He was a first team All-Big Ten selection each year from 1999 to 2001.
In the 2002 NFL Draft, Bryant was the 12th overall selection to the Arizona Cardinals. He played in Arizona from 2002 through 2004, but was suspended from the league for violating the League’s substance abuse policy. He later tried to resurrect his professional career in the United Football League.
Who wore No. 77 first?
• End Frederick Benz first wore No. 77 in 1937.
Who wore No. 77 last?
• Freshman guard Jackson Keeler last wore No. 77 in 2013, however injuries cut short his athletic career.
Stay tuned to Badger of Honor as we continue our daily countdown in preparation of the season opener against Alabama.
Next: Wisconsin Football Experience