Ready, Set, Kickoff
July 28, 2006 | Football
Football players John Stocco, Joe Thomas and Mark Zalewski will represent the University of Wisconsin at the 2006 Big Ten Kickoff Luncheon, scheduled for Aug. 1-2 at the Hyatt Regency in Chicago. First-year head coach Bret Bielema also will make his debut at the event.
Bielema will join Northwestern head coach Pat Fitzgerald as the conference's two newest head coaches. When Fitzgerald took over the NU post for the late Randy Walker, he became the nation's youngest head coach, passing Bielema.
Stocco will begin his third season the Badger starting quarterback in 2006 and has been named to the preseason Maxwell Award watch list. Thomas was named to the 2006 Playboy All-America team and has been selected to watch lists for the Outland Trophy and Lombardi Award. Zalewski has been ranked among the top 15 of the nation's inside linebackers by The Sporting News.
Nearly 1,700 fans are scheduled to attend the Big Ten Kickoff Luncheon, which runs in conjunction with the conference's media day. For the second straight year, the opening session of the Big Ten football media days will appear on live television as ESPNEWS will broadcast all 11 head coaches when they address the assembled media from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. CT on Tuesday.
The list of student-athletes scheduled to appear at the luncheon features 17 players who have earned All-Big Ten accolades in their careers. The annual event, which also features all 11 head coaches will begin at 10 a.m. Wednesday, Aug. 2 with the player and coach autograph and photo session. The luncheon is scheduled to begin at 11:30 a.m. with Mark Jones of ABC Sports and ESPN serving as the master of ceremonies.
This event annually draws some of the most interesting and talented names in college sports. The list of former Kickoff Luncheon attendees includes coaching legends like Bo Schembechler and Woody Hayes along with each of the Big Ten's Heisman Trophy winners in the last 35 years - Archie Griffin, Desmond Howard, Eddie George, Charles Woodson and Ron Dayne. In all, over 630 of the conference's finest players, more than 50 head coaches and 36,500 supporters have made the Big Ten Kickoff Luncheon a yearly stop in their preseason college football schedule.
