BY ANDY BAGGOT
UWBadgers.com Insider

MADISON, Wis. — Bob Teague might be the most extraordinary person to ever play a down of football at Wisconsin.

That might sound strange given that most Badgers fans have probably never heard of him. That lack of awareness is understandable given he only played one varsity season and that was almost 75 years ago.

But Teague had so many gifts and impacted so many lives that when you call the roll for all-around greatness at UW his resume should be right there at the top of the pile.

Teague was the first black student-athlete to be a starter for Wisconsin, the first black person to rush for 100 yards in a game — he did so twice — and the first black person to lead the club in rushing for a single season on the way to being named to the all-Big Ten Conference second team in 1949. His skill level was such that multiple NFL teams, including the Green Bay Packers, tried to sign him.

Teague told acquaintances that a coaching change at UW — from Harry Stuhldreher to Ivy Williamson — paved the way to his breakthrough season. Up to that point, Teague had been relegated to the junior varsity and didn't start as a senior until midway through the season.

"Ivy Williamson was the coach that gave me a chance," Teague said.

 

But instead of capitalizing on his athletic skills, Teague focused on getting his degree in journalism, a decision that led him down an extraordinary path to national prominence.

He wrote for the Daily Cardinal as a student, was hired as a sports reporter and feature writer at the Milwaukee Journal, then became a sports writer at the New York Times where he covered all the major sporting attractions of the 1950s and '60s.

Teague left the Times and the print side of the business to join NBC News, where he covered straight news as well as sports and was given his own weekly TV show. He covered everything from political conventions to heavyweight boxing matches to the Giants and Jets. In addition, he provided analysis for college football games.

Teague also authored six books, including one entitled "Letters to a Black Boy" that was published in 1968 during one of the most chaotic periods of the civil rights movement.

Teague and his wife, Matt, grew up in Milwaukee, attended UW and had one child, Adam. Matt was an accomplished dancer on Broadway in New York City. Bob Teague died in in 2013. Matt died in 2009.

"Failure was not really in his vocabulary," Adam said of his late father. "He was a doer and an achiever and did not want to be held back regardless if the playing field was level or not."

Jim Hoyt, a former UW journalism professor and chair of the athletic board, crossed paths with Teague on multiple occasions. Hoyt was a Wisconsin graduate student when Teague came back to Madison to receive the distinguished alumni award from the school of journalism in 1969. Hoyt later worked at NBC as a producer and editor in 1972 and '73.

"He was motivated to achieve," Hoyt said of Teague, "He blazed a trail that opened the door for many others."

That's a legacy worthy of the UW Athletic Hall of Fame.

 

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High Five

One: Teague's book "Letters to a Black Boy" was a project he did for his son. Adam said he has two physical copies of the book and that he has read it multiple times. The last instance came shortly after his father's death. Excerpts from the book were made into a LP with Bob as the narrator.

"It's aged surprisingly well," Adam said of its content. "There's some good messages to relay. It's as poignant today as it was back then."

 

Two: Bob Teague once appeared as an imposter on the TV show "To Tell the Truth." He was able to fool the panel into believing he was a Sergeant George Harris, an Air Force judo instructor.

Three: Adam said his father always spoke well of his time at UW. Adam said that when he was young, he had action pictures of his father on his bedroom wall.

"He had very, very fond memories," Adam said. "That's where he met my mother. That's where he was introduced to modern dance and the arts."

Four: Teague's journalism career was at its height in the 1960s and '70s in part because of the civil rights movement. He counted legendary activists Martin Luther King, Malcolm X and Stokely Carmichael among his influences.

Five: Adam was asked to describe his father, who retired from NBC in 1991.

"He was imperfect, but he always had the best intentions at heart," Adam said. "He always gave it more than his all.

"He was someone to look up to, someone to aspire to be. He was a double-edge sword. There was a lot of good, but to get to that good you had to cut down a lot of obstacles."

Adam also said his father was sickly as a child and that he shined shoes to earn money.

"I don't think he was ever bitter about things that happened to him, or any of the struggles he had to go through to get where he ultimately ended up," Adam said. "But there's definitely something in his make-up that he did not forget what humble beginnings that he came from and where he ended up."