BY ANDY BAGGOT
UWBadgers.com Insider
MADISON, Wis. — Wisconsin student-athletes have been making impactful headlines in New York City sporting events for quite some time now.
They've won Heismans, Stanley Cups and Super Bowls.
They've put up numbers worthy of the Baseball Hall of Fame.
They've prevailed in world-class running events.
They've been all-pro and all-star performers.
They've heard their name called as first-round picks in the NBA and NFL drafts.
They've made history.
When the Badgers face Miami in the Pinstripe Bowl at Yankee Stadium on Dec. 27, it will be the first time they've played football in New York City in the modern era, which began in 1946.
Wisconsin played at Columbia in 1940 and dropped a 7-6 decision as part of .500 season under fifth-year coach Harry Stuhldreher.
But the Badgers were making their presence felt in the Big Apple well before that.
In 1937, during the first NFL draft held in New York City, former Wisconsin halfback Eddie Jankowski was chosen ninth overall by the Green Bay Packers.
In all, 25 Wisconsin football players were chosen in the opening round of NFL drafts staged at New York locations. The list ranges from fullback Pat Harder and end Elroy Hirsch in 1944 and '45 – to St. Louis and Cleveland, respectively – to center Travis Frederick, who was tabbed by Dallas in 2013.
Fullback Alan Ameche was on that list of 25 NFL first-round picks from Wisconsin to be drafted in New York, but that's hardly his career highlight in that iconic city.
In 1954, Ameche received the Heisman Trophy during ceremonies at the Downtown Athletic Club. He was the first Badgers recipient of the award, given to the best college football player in the nation. Tailback Ron Dayne joined him in 1999.
Four years after winning the Heisman, Ameche starred in what has been dubbed by NFL historians as "The Greatest Game Ever Played.''
Ameche, from Kenosha, scored the winning touchdown on a 1-yard run in overtime as the Baltimore Colts defeated the New York Giants, 23-17, for the league championship.
The meeting took place on Dec. 28, 1958 at Yankee Stadium. It was the first NFL playoff game to require overtime. An estimated 45 million people watched the game on TV and their enthusiasm ushered in a love affair with football that continues to this day. The fact the duel included 13 future NFL Hall of Famers only enhances its legendary reputation.
That's not Wisconsin's only link to an NFL title that used New York as a staging area. Quarterback Russell Wilson, safety Chris Maragos and linebacker O'Brien Schofield – all former Badgers – played for Seattle in 2014 when the Seahawks walloped Denver, 43-8, to win the Super Bowl.
The game was played at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, but the NFL billed its first open-air, cold-weather-defying Super Bowl site as a New York City production.
The New York Rangers, one of the Original Six franchises in the NHL, won their most recent Stanley Cup in 1994. A major contributor was goaltender Mike Richter, a standout for the Badgers in the 1980s, who won all 16 playoff games – four by shutout – and stopped 28 of 30 shots in a 3-2 Cup-clinching victory over the Vancouver Canucks at Madison Square Garden.
One of Ameche's contemporaries at Wisconsin was Don Gehrmann, a 1948 Olympian from Milwaukee who made headlines in New York during the 1940s and '50s.
Track and field was a very big deal in those days. No U.S. meet was bigger than the Millrose Games – held every February at Madison Square Garden – and no event more prestigious than the Wanamaker Mile.
Gehrmann won the Wanamaker four straight times, 1949 to '52, and was so popular that he got standing ovations whenever he appeared.
Another elite Wisconsin student-athlete from that period was Harvey Kuenn, a standout baseball player from Milwaukee who had the distinction of playing Major League games in three New York stadiums: Yankee Stadium, Polo Grounds and Shea Stadium.
Kuenn, a 10-time all-star who won the American League batting title in 1959, hit .315 in his career at Yankee Stadium, .348 at the Polo Grounds and .286 at Shea.
After right-hander Paul Quantrill pitched for the Badgers in the late 1980s, he went on to play for six Major League teams, including the Yankees in 2004. He still holds their franchise record for most pitching appearances in a season with 86, helping New York to 101 wins. His resume – which includes 841 games and an All-Star Game appearance in 2001 – earned Quantrill induction in the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame in 2010.
Other former Wisconsin student-athletes have had prominent roles with New York franchises.
Dayne was a first-round pick of the Giants in 2000, the season they advanced to the Super Bowl only to lose to the Baltimore Ravens, 34-7. He played 62 games with the Giants, amassing 2,067 rushing yards and 16 touchdowns.
Wide receiver Al Toon was a first-round choice of the New York Jets in 1985 and evolved into a record-setting three-time All-Pro pick. He's one of 18 players or coaches to be installed in the Jets' Ring of Honor, an honor Toon received in 2011.
After standout hockey careers with the Badgers, winger Pat Flatley and defenseman Ryan McDonagh went on to serve as captains of the New York Islanders and Rangers, respectively.
Current Wisconsin men's coach Tony Granato began his NHL career with the Rangers in 1988-89, setting franchise records for most goals and hat tricks by a rookie.
Six former Wisconsin basketball players were selected in the first round of NBA drafts held in New York. The first was center Al Henry in 1970. The most recent occurred in 2015 when forwards Frank Kaminsky and Sam Dekker were selected, marking the first time multiple Badgers were taken in the same opening round.
After not playing in Madison Square Garden since 1947, the Badger men's basketball team has played six games in "The World's Most Famous Arena" over the last three years. UW has amassed a 3-3 record in those games, with all three victories coming in the final minute or overtime.
On Jan. 28, 2017, Ethan Happ scored 32 points to lead Wisconsin to an overtime win against Rutgers. That was the first half of a "Super Saturday" doubleheader that featured the UW men's hockey team facing off against Ohio State at MSG later that night. Not to be outdone, Cameron Hughes lit the lamp 2:58 into overtime to give Wisconsin an OT sweep of the day's festivities.
