Wisconsin Football Countdown: No. 69, Derek Engler
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.
Wisconsin Badgers
Next up in our countdown, signifying 69 days until college football is back, is a mid-90s offensive lineman, Derek Engler.
Engler spent 1992-1996 at Wisconsin, and was a key member on the offensive line that paved the way for Ron Dayne’s 2,109-yard performance in his freshman season.
While Engler was just a one-year starter in 1996, he teamed up with guys like Chris McIntosh and Jerry Wunsch to help the Badgers have one of the strongest running games in the country.
Engler turned his successes in 1996 into a fourth round selection in the 1997 NFL Draft by the New York Giants, where he played four seasons in the NFL.
Who wore No. 69 first?
• Center L. Shoemaker first wore No. 69 during the 1927 season.
Who wears No. 69 now?
• Redshirt sophomore Aiden McNamara currently wears No. 69 for the Badgers. After redshirting in 2013, McNamara saw action in blowouts against Bowling Green and Maryland last season, but saw his year end on bad note after a season-ending leg injury in mid-November.
Stay tuned to Badger of Honor as we continue our daily countdown in preparation of the season opener against Alabama.
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