And as of today, we are halfway to the start of football season from when I started counting down.
Only 50 days left until we kick off at Tennessee Tech.
So, #50 on the current roster is
Junior Linebacker Pete Swenson
Pete has played in 24 games over the last two years, putting up 78 tackles, 14 for loss including 7 sacks. He is from Mason City, IA.
Other #50s in our history include:
Jack Engle..............................1946-49
Don James.............................1958-59
Jim Mortier..............................1961-63
Ken Muhich................................. 1966
Rod Bixby...............................1970-71
Lewis Harris............................1973-76
Mike McNulty..........................1978-80
Frank Winters.........................1984-86
Scott Harper...........................1988-89
Kenio Johnson........................1990-91
Harvie Herrington...................1993-94
Josh Kaburick.........................1996-97
Edgerton Hartwell........................ 1998
Justin Thies............................1999-00
Andrew O’Brien........................... 2003
Alvin Harris.............................2005-06
Chad Sprayberry......................... 2008
Gino Durley, Jr........................ 2011-14
Ok, so this one might end up beating yesterday's "most successful number" actually...
Jim Mortier is a Leatherneck HOF member who was discussed more in yesterday's #51 post.
Rod Bixby is a
1997 Inductee into the Leatherneck HOF. "A four-year football standout who set the WIU record for tackles in a season in 1970 and a career (1968-71). Upon his graduation, Bixby served as a graduate assistant coach before embarking on a high school coaching career." He was named an NAIA Second-Team All-American in 1970 and AP Honorable Mention in 1971.
Mike McNulty was an all-conference O-Lineman in 1980.
Frank Winters was inducted into the
Leatherneck Hall of Fame in 1998. "The four-year letterman played in 42 consecutive games and earned All-America honors from Kodak, The Sporting News and The Associated Press as a senior. Winters was named to the Gateway Conference All-Decade Team in 1994." He was a second team all-conference O-Lineman in 1984 and first team in 1986. Following his career at Western, Winters was drafted by the Cleveland Browns in the 10th round of the 1987 NFL draft. He played for the Browns, NY Giants, and KC Chiefs for a 1-2 years each, but really hit his stride when he played for the Packers. He was their starting center for 8 straight seasons, made the Pro Bowl in 1996, was part of Green Bay's
Super Bowl (XXXI) Champion team during his time there. Winters was inducted into the Green Bay Packers HOF in 2008 with induction speech by friend Brett Favre.
Edgerton "Ed" Hartwell....well...there's a reason why Western was known as the FCS's Linebacker U for a while there. How do you follow up the best defensive player in the entire FCS....with an even better one. Ed Hartwell was the team's tackle leader in 1999 (165) and 2000 (191). He was second team all-conference, on the conference all-newcomer team, and was a FB Gazette Honorable Mention in 1998. In 1999 he was first team all-conference, conference defensive player of the year, AP Third Team, Sports Network First Team, FB Gazette First Team, Teamlink.com First Team, and Walter Camp First Team. Then, in 2000, his senior year, he was named conference defensive player of the year for the second time and received the Buck Buchanan Award for best defensive player in the FCS. He also received AP first team, AFCA first team, FB Gazette first team and linebacker of the year, Walter Camp first team, and Sports Network first team awards. Following his Leatherneck career, Hartwell was drafted in the 4th round of the 2001 NFL draft by the Baltimore Ravens. He played with the Ravens for 4 years, then played for 2 with the Falcons, and was signed to preseason squads of the Bengals and Raiders. He also played for a year in the
UFL (United Football League) with the Las Vegas Locomotives. Hartwell is currently listed in the Leatherneck record books for:
- 1st (tied) for solo tackles in a game, 18 against Missouri State in 1999
- 2nd most total tackles in a game, 26 against Elon in 1999
- 1st and 2nd most solo tackles in a season, 107 in 1999 and 122 in 2000
- 1st, 5th, and 8th most total tackles in a season, 156 in 1998, 168 in 1999, and 191 in 2000
- 1st (tied) for fumble recoveries in a season, 4 in 2000
- 2nd in career solo tackles with 308
- 2nd in career assisted tackles with 207
- 1st in career total tackles with 512
- 6th (tied) for career forced fumbles with 6
- 2nd (tied) for career fumble recoveries with 7
I also wanted to point out, that listing for the 8th most total tackles in a season was in 1998, the same year that James Milton landed at 3rd on the same list. That season, the two of them combined for 332 total tackles, an average of 166 tackles each in one year. Outside of Milton and Hartwell, we've only ever had one player (Kyle Glazier with 167 in 2010) get over 160 tackles in a season, and Eddie's 156 tackles that year would have made him the team's tackle leader pretty much any other year in our DI era.
Justin Thies received a conference O-Line player of the week award in September of 2000.
Scott Lawson - Board Admin
