Is there a draft in here?
Benchwarmers Edition
*****The Cache is not at the posted coordinates*****
Wisconsin has a long history of involvement in professional football. Not only are the Packers one of the oldest active professional teams, but our state has had players in almost every football team in NFL history!
In 1921, Almore “Buff” Wagner (from the CO’s hometown) played four games with the Packers. It wasn’t uncommon in those days for a player to only play for a handful of games and not an entire season. In fact, Wally Ladrow, from Brookside, only played for the Packers for a single game. That same year, Mike Palmer from Columbia County played for the Minnesota Marines during their 1 – 3 season. The one win for the Marines that year came the week after Wally and Buff beat Minnesota in a 7 – 6 squeaker.
No doubt, all of these players started playing football during their high school years. Their games featured the Wing-T, Wishbone and Power Sweeps more than the forward pass that dominates today. The Quarterback was simply another running back. Players played both offense and defense. It was a brutal game, with injuries being frequent and often severe. There were repeated calls for football to be outlawed because it was too dangerous for these young men to play.
Fast forward to more recent teams and players. While injuries still happen, and can end careers, they are not as life threatening as they were 100 years ago. Players in Buff’s time were household names in college, but professional football was not looked upon in high regard. Pay was miserable and often depended upon ticket sales. Players could play for no pay if the crowd didn’t pay for game expenses. Teams competed for the best players in their home turf. Some players played on a game-by-game basis and only the most exceptional players had what we would consider contracts today.
There certainly was not a draft of players coming out of college. It was not until 1935 that the Philadelphia Eagles owner Bert Bell lost out on a bidding war for Stan Kostka with other teams that the league took a draft of college players seriously. The first NFL Draft took place in 1936 in the Ritz-Carleton hotel in Philadelphia. Ninety graduating college players’ names were written on a chalkboard from which the teams could choose to add to their team. Philadelphia chose Jay Berwanger as the first ever first pick. Berwanger, and twenty-three other players that were drafted chose not to play in the NFL.
Ray Buivid, born in Sheboygan, was drafted by the Chicago Bears with the 3rd overall pick in the 1936 draft. After being a Heisman Trophy contender in high school, he did not start for the Bears. However, his talent was evident enough by the results of the game he played against the Chicago Cardinals. Despite not being the team’s top quarterback, he was the first player in NFL history to throw for five touchdowns in one game. He also caught a touchdown in that same game. He retired after two disappointing seasons and joined the US Navy.
In the modern era, it is rare for Wisconsin to not have a hometown boy drafted by an NFL team. Unfortunately, most of them are benchwarmers.
Nick Schommer, from Prescott, joined the Tennessee Titans after being drafted in the seventh round of 2009. Despite being an All-American at NDSU, his talent wasn’t what it took to find a position on the team. After being on the futures or practice squad teams, he was finally waived by them in 2011.
Jason Maniecki came a long way to make it to the NFL. Born in Rabka-Zdrój, Poland, he graduated not too far from this cache: Wisconsin Rapids. While he was known to dominate the line while playing at UW-Madison, he only played three seasons after being drafted by the Buccaneers in the fifth round of 1996. In that time, he recorded one single sack before injury ended his career. I hear he’s someone to turn to if you want to talk to a man about a horse house.
Kirk Baumgartner was born in Colby, less than a 90-minute drive from this cache. He is, arguably, the best passer in NAIA history. While attending nearby UWSP, he amassed 14,847 yards in his career! He was drafted by the Packers in the 9th round in 1990 to play for Coach Lindy Infante. Imagine, growing up and watching the Packers and getting to throw passes to Sterling Sharpe and Ed West. Maybe getting sacked by Tim Harris or Brian Noble. Having Tony Mandarich block for you. Or not. While you can be sure he had aspirations of backing up the Majik Man, it was not to be. He couldn’t beat out Blair Kiel or Anthony Dilweg for a roster spot and his NFL dreams died away before the regular season started that year. However, how many of those guys are in the College Football Hall of Fame?
How about someone that never recorded a stat, but won a Super Bowl ring? That’s exactly what Erik Jensen did. He was drafted in the 7th round of the 2004 draft by the St. Louis Rams. After a year with the Rams, he made it to the 49ers briefly before spending two years with the Steelers. As a practice squad member, he earned a ring in 2005 when the Steelers won it all. After similar positions with the Cowboys and Bengals, and then NFL Europe he transitioned to life outside football.
Tyler Biadasz may not belong on this list. The 2016 graduate of nearby Amherst High School was selected for the Tim Krumrie Award as the state’s best high school defensive lineman his senior year. While at Wisconsin, he started on the offensive line and opened holes for Jonathan Taylor (see video below). The Cowboys selected him in the 4th round of the 2020 draft. While he did not initially start for them, when their starting center was injured, he stepped up and 4 games for them before a hamstring injury landed him on injured reserve for the rest of that season. As 2021 started, he was the starter. After the 2022 season, he earned his first Pro Bowl selection. The future looks bright for him!
Robert Windsor from Fond du Lac certainly belongs on this list. He was also drafted in 2020. The Colts selected him in the 6th round. He only made it to the active roster twice in his NFL career, his first game was against the Packers. Injuries cut his availability and he officially retired in 2022. However, as this cache is published, he is on the active roster of the XFL’s Vegas Vipers where he is teammates with former Packers Geronimo Allison and Brett Hundley.
Ready to find a cache? Simple!
N44 20.XXX W89 48.YYY
XXX = Schommer + Maniecki + Baumgartner
YYY = Jensen + Biadasz + Windsor
This is all about the draft. What overall draft pick were each of the players taken in their drafts?
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