Badgers in the Pro Football Hall of Fame
Elroy Hirsch, Class of 1968
Remembering Crazylegs (UW) | HOF page | NFL Films: Elroy Hirsch
Hirsch enrolled at UW-Madison after a distinguished prep career in which he was an honored athlete in football and basketball at Wausau High School. Hirsch, in fact, was a 1988 inductee into the National High School Sports Hall of Fame.
He played for the 1942 Badgers as a triple-threat halfback. That club was 8-1-1, including a 17-7 win over No. 1-ranked Ohio State (Hirsch threw one touchdown pass and accounted for more than 200 yards of total offense vs. the Buckeyes), and finished the season ranked third nationally by the Associated Press. Hirsch rushed for 786 yards, passed for 226 yards and had 390 yards receiving on the way to third-team All-America honors from Look magazine.
At the conclusion of his exemplary college career, Hirsch was a 1945 NFL first-round draft choice of Cleveland. He began his pro career as a running back with the Chicago Rockets (1946-48) of the All-America Conference and later starred with the Rams (1949-57).
Hirsch was a key part of the Rams' revolutionary "three-end offense" and finished his pro football career with 387 receptions for 7,029 yards and 60 touchdowns. He set an NFL season record with 1,495 receiving yards (66 catches and 17 TDs) in 1951 as the Rams won the league championship. The pro game's first true flanker, Hirsch is a member of the NFL's All-Time All-Star team and is credited - along with 1950-era stars like Otto Graham, Sam Huff and Gino Marchetti - for helping change the game from one of two-way players to one with offensive and defensive specialists.
Hirsch, perhaps, made his greatest contributions to his home state when he returned to the UW as Director of Athletics beginning on Feb. 28, 1969. Over the next 18 years, Hirsch presided over an era of growth, change and success in Wisconsin sports. He was a tireless promoter of Badger sports and will be remembered as its greatest cheerleader. Hirsch is credited with injecting life into a debt-ridden athletic department and improving university morale in a time of despair.
The "Crazylegs" moniker and its namesake, in recent times, have been celebrated annually in the spring with the Crazylegs Run in Madison. The incredibly popular run/walk attracts more than 10,000 participants for one of the Athletic Department's biggest fundraisers. Hirsch has been the official race starter from the beginning.
Joe Thomas, Class of 2023
Joe Thomas through the years (NFL) | Wisconsin Athletic HOF page
Former Badger offensive lineman Joe Thomas, who will be enshrined into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in early August, is the seventh offensive tackle to become a first-ballot hall of famer, and first since Walter Jones (Seattle) in 2014.
Thomas, a Brookfield, Wis., native, was drafted No. 3 overall by the Cleveland Browns in 2007, and went on to set an NFL record by playing 10,363 consecutive snaps and earning 10 consecutive Pro Bowl selections to begin his career. Thomas allowed just 30 sacks over 6,680 pass-block snaps, which equals one sack allowed in .004 percent of total pass plays, according to Pro Football Focus. He earned eight All-Pro selections over his 11-year career with the Browns and was named to the NFL’s 2010s All-Decade Team.
During his collegiate career with the Badgers, Thomas started at left tackle in 2004, 2005 and 2006, earning first-team All-America honors during his junior and senior seasons. In 2006, Thomas was awarded the Outland Trophy, presented to the nation’s best interior lineman, becoming the first Badger to win the award.
With Thomas as a starter, Wisconsin compiled a 31-7 record over three seasons and boasted a pair of 1,000-yard tailbacks behind the Thomas-led offensive front. Thomas became the Badgers’ highest-ever selection in the NFL’s common-draft era, setting the standard for an offensive line unit that has totaled six first-round NFL draft selections since 2000.
In 2017, Thomas was honored as part of Wisconsin Athletics’ ‘Camp Randall 100’, an exclusive list celebrating individuals who shaped the history of Camp Randall Stadium. He was inducted into the UW Athletic Hall of Fame in 2019.
Mike Webster, Class of 1997
UW Bio | HOF Page | NFL Films: Mike Webster
Mike Webster, a 6-1, 255-pound All-Big Ten center at Wisconsin, was the Pittsburgh Steelers’ fifth-round selection and the 125th player taken in the 1974 NFL Draft. A three-year starter and honor student in college, Webster adapted to the pro game quickly.
For two years, he split time at center with veteran Ray Mansfield while seeing some service at guard and the special teams. However, with a start in the final game of the 1975 season, Webster began a string of 150 consecutive starts that lasted until 1986, when he missed the first four games with a dislocated elbow.
Webster, who was born March 18, 1952, at Tomahawk, Wisconsin, played more seasons (15) and more games (220) than any other player in Pittsburgh history. Webster, who was the team’s offensive captain for nine seasons, was considered to be the strongest Steeler and won the Ironman competition in 1980 to give credence to that belief.
Webster, who joined the team in the same year the Steelers won their first of four Super Bowls, also played in six AFC championship games. Pittsburgh won four of the six title games. Webster was an all-pro choice seven times and was selected to the All-AFC team five times from 1978 through 1982. He also played in nine Pro Bowls, the first five as a starter.
The Steelers made Webster a free agent in 1988 and he quickly signed on with the Kansas City Chiefs, first as an offensive line coach. But within a few weeks, Webster was back at his old center spot, starting all 16 games in 1989. He completed his 17-season, 245-game career after a final 1990 campaign with the Chiefs.
