The 35th player on our list was one of the early building blocks of the greatest sustained success of the Wisconsin Badgers.
Steve Stark was a three-sport athlete at Hononegah who eventually outgrew baseball and basketball. It was the athleticism he showed in all three that caught the eye of Big 10 recruiters at a University of Iowa agility camp.
The Badgers of the late 1980's had slid to the bottom of the Big 10, having gone 15-52 since the school's last winning season in 1984. Stark, though, had a feeling that first-year coach Barry Alvarez could turn things around.
Stark redshirted in 1991 as the Badgers improved to 5-6 and then watched and learned in 1992 during another 5-6 season. In 1993, he took over at right guard, playing on an offensive line that featured future NFL players Mike Verstegen (1996-1997), Joe Rudolph (1995-1997), Joe Panos (1994-2000) and Cory Raymer (1995-2005).
That bulldozing line cleared the way for Brent Moss to gain 1,637 yards on the ground and Darrell Bevell to throw for 2,390 yards. The Badgers went 10-1-1 to earn the school's first trip to the Rose Bowl since 1962 when East's Ron Carlson (No. 37 on our list) was starring on the defensive line.
The Badgers beat UCLA, 21-16, in Pasadena to finish ranked No. 6 in the final AP Poll. Stark and his linemates dominated, opening up enough room for Moss to run for 158 yards and two touchdowns and walk off with the game's MVP award.
That really was Stark's zenith at Wisconsin. As a junior, he injured an ankle and missed five games for a 7-4-1 Wisconsin team. Stark was a preseason All-Big 10 pick as a senior, but he sprained so severely in the fourth game of the season that he had to have surgery and miss the rest of the year. Without Stark anchoring the line, Wisconsin fell to 4-5-1.
Still, the foundation had been laid. The Badgers would having winning seasons in nine of the next 10 seasons under Alvarez and make it back to the Rose Bowl in 1998 and 1999. The winning has continued under Brett Bielema, Gary Anderson and Paul Chryst. Since that magical 1993 run, Wisconsin has played in bowl games in 26 out of 28 seasons.
The injury also cost Stark professionally. He was not selected in the 1996 NFL draft and signed a free agent deal with the New York Jets. He didn't make the squad and decided instead to put his Wisconsin degree to use. Stark runs Stark Web Design in the Milwaukee area as well as Trench Training, which focuses on developing the skills of offensive and defensive linemen.
| No. 35 - Steve Stark, Hononegah | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Level | School | Accomplishments | Points |
| 1989 | High School | Hononegah | Winning Team | 1 |
| 1990 | High School | Hononegah | First Team All-Conference | 2 |
| Playoff Team | 1 | |||
| 1992 | College | Wisconsin | Letter Winner on Power 5 Team | 4 |
| 1993 | College | Wisconsin | Letter Winner on Power 5 Team | 4 |
| Starter | 1 | |||
| Winning Team | 1 | |||
| Rose Bowl | 1 | |||
| 1994 | College | Wisconsin | Letter Winner on Power 5 Team | 4 |
| Starter | 1 | |||
| Winning Team | 1 | |||
| Hall of Fame Bowl | 1 | |||
| 1995 | College | Wisconsin | Letter Winner on Power 5 Team | 4 |
| Starter | 1 | |||
| 1996 | NFL | Jets | Free agent contract | 1 |
| Total | 28 | |||
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