MIKE LUCAS Senior Writer Related Content • Varsity Magazine

BY MIKE LUCAS
UWBadgers.com Senior Writer

MADISON, Wis. — Three years ago, Kevin Stemke was at his wife's side when Lizzy Fitzgerald, a two-time All-American setter on the Badgers volleyball team, was inducted into the UW Athletics Hall of Fame.

"It was really neat to be a part of that," Stemke said.

Considering his own accomplishments — Stemke was a 2000 All-America punter and the inaugural Ray Guy Award winner — what was going through his mind during that 2015 ceremony?

Did he think about potentially someday getting that same phone call that Lizzy got from athletic director Barry Alvarez — his old football coach — informing him of his own Hall of Fame selection?

"Well, of course, you think about it and you dream about it and you hope one day it happens," said Stemke, 39. "But it took Ray Guy until he was 65 years old to get into the (Pro Football) Hall of Fame.

"I said to myself, 'You know, maybe … maybe it will come around."

Laughing, he added, "But Lizzy will always be able to say that she got in first."

No matter who's telling the story, Kevin or Lizzy, it will make for a good read. Especially when you consider the improbability of a husband and wife team in the same athletics Hall of Fame.

"How about that?" Alvarez pondered incredulously. "That makes it really special."

Especially for the Stemkes.

"I was on my way to meet Lizzy at a school function for our daughter when Coach Alvarez called me," said Stemke, a recruiter for an executive search firm in Greensboro, North Carolina.

"He let me know it was going to happen. And I was shocked … oh, my gosh, really, really excited. It just took me off guard. I told him, 'I'm about to pull over the car before I get into an accident.'"

Stemke is the first punting specialist to go into the UW Hall of Fame (Jim Bakken was a punter/placekicker and Pat O'Dea was a punter/dropkicker. Both were previous inductees).

"I'd still rather be going in as a quarterback … I'm just kidding," said Stemke, who played a little QB at Green Bay Preble High School. "I loved playing the position. But I wasn't very good.

"It was fun while it lasted but I knew where my talent was and where I could best help out a team, and that all played itself out."

Stemke didn't waste any time proving himself at the collegiate level. As a 19-year-old freshman, he broke the Wisconsin single-season record by averaging 43.9 yards in 1997.

In a 13-10 upset of Iowa, Stemke averaged 46.2 yards on six punts (with two downed inside the 6-yard-line) nullifying the nation's No. 1 punt returner, Tim Dwight, who had one return for six yards.

As a sophomore, Stemke was the consensus first-team All-Big Ten punter after leading the conference with a 43.8 average; the first UW punter to lead the league since Ken Simmons in 1973.

"Many times, your kickers are a little quirky," Alvarez said. "But Kevin was a true athlete. And he had a tremendous personality that he brought to the team. He was a strong, strong contributor."

As a junior, Stemke averaged 41.3 with a career long 86-yard punt against Michigan State; the third-longest in school history behind George O'Brien (96 in 1952) and Bakken (90 in 1961).

"I do still remember my longest punt at Camp Randall," he said. "I remember how effortless it felt at the time. It came off really well and went a long way. Those are the good ones."

As a senior, Stemke topped his own single-season mark (with a 44.5 average) and claimed the first Guy award named in honor of arguably the greatest punter of all-time. Stemke was humbled.

"Yes, I had a gift and I trained hard and I was able to punt the ball well," he said. "But in those Rose Bowl years, we had guys from top to bottom who knew their roles and did them really well.

"Our starters were on punt team and punt return. Special teams were a big deal then and continue to be a big deal today. As long as I was able to do my job, I never had to worry.

"I never had to worry about a guy coming off the edge (and blocking his kick). I never had to worry about a snap that was going to be an errant snap. And when you're able to take some of those worries out of the game, and you can really just focus on your job, it makes it a lot easier."

He named names — singling out long snappers Mike Schneck, who played 11 years in the NFL and made a Pro Bowl, and Mike Sowold, who saw limited action as a pro but was on a Super Bowl team.

Stemke is still in the UW record book for career punting average, 43.5 (with a minimum of 100 punts); and punting yards, 10,660. He ranks third in punts (245) behind Drew Meyer and Scott Cepicky.

"Probably the biggest testament to our punt team was when we set the Big Ten record for net punting average (42.5)," said Stemke, a 6-foot-2, 188-pound left-footer who wore No. 14 for the Badgers. "It was a testament to our entire unit.

"When I look back on it, I look at our punt team as a really unique weapon that kept us in some games. I don't know if it won us any games, but it certainly gave us a chance to win some."

His Rose Bowl memories are among his fondest since he contributed to victories. Against UCLA, he averaged 41.2. Against Stanford, he averaged 43.4 and had three punts downed inside the 20.

"There were moments in those Rose Bowls where I had some really good punts," he said. "When you can execute in the biggest of games on the biggest of stages, that's always a good feeling."

But it didn't translate to the NFL. He had a handful of tryouts over five years, including one with the Packers. But he appeared in only eight games with Oakland and St. Louis and had just 33 punts.

"I think about this a lot," said Stemke. "Maybe if I would have invested in a yoga instructor and worked on my flexibility more. That was always tough for me — to remain flexible.

"So, I could have probably spent more time and energy and, frankly, more money, investing in the craft and thinking more of it as a business than a game.

But it was always fun for me. I never thought about it as a business or a career. Only later on did I do that. And that's when I started to make that mind-switch and started to perform a lot better.

"By that time, it had run its course and we decided, me and Lizzy (who played on the U.S. national team and professionally in Puerto Rico and France), we'd stop playing and get, quote, real jobs."

Kevin and Lizzy, who's no longer coaching, reside in Greensboro with their three kids: Kerrigan, 7; Gus, 4; and Oliver, 2. Lizzy's parents and brother live there. Stemke's sister is right down the road.

At the moment, they're in the process of balancing schedules to see if the whole family will be able to travel to Madison for the Hall of Fame induction weekend. They've had some practice at this.

"They do such a great job with everything," Stemke said of the HOF event organizers at their alma mater. "With Lizzy coaching, you saw how different schools do different things.

"It just solidifies in your mind, no matter what it is, Wisconsin just does things the right way. To give our kids a chance to see where their mom and dad cut their teeth and grew up is special."

Since 2009, the top senior high school punter or placekicker in the state of Wisconsin is presented the Kevin Stemke Award. One of the recipients, Zach Hintze, is on the current roster.

"It's quite an honor to have your name on something like that," said Stemke, whose name will now join Lizzy's on the roll call of UW Hall of Famers. They make up quite the power couple.

"I guess that it doesn't happen too often," he said with a sigh.

And that makes it even more special for Kevin, even though Lizzy got there first.
 

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UW Athletic Hall of Fame Class of 2018

 

• Jolene Anderson, women's basketball
• Simon Bairu, men's cross country, men's track and field
• Allie Blomquist, women's golf
• Bill Chandler, men's basketball
• Tim Gillham, men's fencing
• Jim Johannson, men's hockey
• Ed Nuttycombe, men's cross country and men's track & field
• Donna Shalala, University of Wisconsin Chancellor
• Kevin Stemke, football
• Next member announced July 18