Wisconsin

The Wisconsin fight song, “On Wisconsin” was penned in 1909 and is one of the classics that bring immediate visions of college football as the fall season enjoyment it truly is. The University Of Wisconsin football program however, began twenty years prior to the introduction of its famous song and they were a founding member of the Big Ten Conference in 1896. The Badgers played good football from their inception, always competitive, always tough, and had but two losing seasons entering the 1930’s. A four year stall under head coach Clarence Spears brought in former Notre Dame great Harry Stuhldreher in 1936 and his tenure that lasted through ’48 guided the Badger team through the difficult time of World War II. The former Irish quarterback who was a part of the legendary “Four Horsemen” backfield enjoyed a brief one-season professional football career before entering the coaching ranks. Eleven years at Villanova were successful and he took over the Wisconsin program, rebuilding it until its 8-1-1 1942 squad received national acclaim as the number three ranked team in the country and were considered by many to be the best team in the nation. While end Dave Schreiner was named as an All American before tragically dying during the Okinawan invasion of 1945, it was the very special Badger halfback that garnered media attention. What might have been a dynastic run due to the presence of Wisconsin native Elroy Hirsch, who earned his famous moniker of “Crazy Legs” during the ’42 campaign, became a casualty of the War effort when the freshman star was moved to the campus of Michigan University as part of the V-12 Program. Hirsch of course went on to All American acclaim at U of M and later, to professional fame. He did however return to his Wisconsin home and serve as the university’s athletic director from 1969 through 1987 and is a member of the Wisconsin Athletic Hall Of Fame. Losing a significant number of his players to the disruption of the War, Stuhldreher hit a dry spell until rebounding to 5-3-1 in 1947. With high hopes for 1948, the squad was outfitted with new plastic gold-hued Riddell RT helmets that sported a cardinal center stripe. The Badgers had worn a composite material helmet in 1947 but moved to the Riddell plastic in ’48.The two-win season which included only a victory over Illinois as their lone Big Ten win, left the Badgers in the Big Ten basement and spelled the end of Stuhldreher’s coaching days. He stepped up to the full-time AD job and sought to hire his own replacement.

If interested in any of these Wisconsin helmets please click on the photos below.