The 37th player on the list was one of the most versatile stars of the 1950s whose talents earned him a trip to the Rose Bowl and a shot at the AFL.
Ron Carlson was a basketball and baseball star at East who started out the 1956 football season as a backup quarterback and starting safety. Stuck behind star Ron Adamson, coach Russ Erb used Carlson a variety of ways, and Carlson ended up scoring two touchdowns on punt returns, caught an 11-yard TD pass from Adamson and also threw a 21-yard TD pass in East's 7-0 win over Freeport.
No game showed off his all-around abilities better than the 39-0 route of West in week seven of his senior year. Carlson started the game by intercepting a pass for a 22-yard touchdown. He followed that up with a 61-yard halfback option pass to Doug Gitchell. Then, just before halftime, he broke free for a 44-yard touchdown run.
In the final three games of the 1957 season, Carlson scored seven TDs and threw for one.
Carlson followed former East great Jerry Stalcup to Wisconsin to play for Milt Bruhn's rising program. It took a while for him to get started. He red-shirted in 1958 and then was ineligible most of his freshman year.
Carlson finally hit the field in 1960 and contributed from the start. As a sophomore, he had 10 receptions for 101 yards and recorded two interceptions as a linebacker, including a 32-yard interception TD return against Marquette in the opening game of the season.
That would turn out to be his only college TD.
Carlson spent the first few weeks of his junior year on the bench before making it back into the starting lineup as a defensive end and an occasional blocking end on offense. He had a fumble recovery in Wisconsin's 29-10 win over Wisconsin and had the quarterback hit that led to a 60-yard interception game-winning TD in the Badgers' 23-21 upset of Minnesota in the final game of the season.
Carlson had a solid season in 1962 for a Wisconsin team that had a spectacular year as a whole. Behind the passing combination of Ron Vander Kelen to All-American wide receiver Pat Richter, the Badgers won their first four games before falling to Ohio State, 14-7.
Wisconsin rebounded with a win at Michigan and then a 37-6 beat down of the No. 1 ranked Northwestern Wildcats. Carlson tipped a pass that turned into an interception in the second half that keyed the blowout.
That put Wisconsin in position to clinch a Rose Bowl berth by beating Illinois. The Badgers didn't disappoint. Wisconsin won 35-6 behind a relentless pass rush. Carlson had his best game, throwing the Illinois quarterback for losses on three pass plays - sacks before they were called sacks.
Wisconsin would end the Big 10 season in style, beating fifth-ranked Minnesota, 14-9. The trip to Pasadena didn't go as planned. USC raced out to a 42-21 lead and held on to win, 42-37. It was Wisconsin's second Rose Bowl trip in four years and third in 11. The Badgers wouldn't get to California again until 1993.
The Buffalo Bills of the fledgling AFC took a flier on Carlson in the 25th round of the 1963 draft. Carlson's pro hopes didn't last long. He injured a knee in the summer and accepted a football coaching job at North Boone in the fall. He kept that job for two years, before moving back to Madison where he continued to compete in minor league football, playing for the Madison Mustangs in the Central States Football League, and amateur basketball and baseball.
Eventually, he went into real estate and construction and became co-owner of Sports East Marine. Carlson died in 2014.
| No. 37 - Ron Carlson, East | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Level | School | Accomplishments | Points |
| 1956 | High School | East | Honorable Mention All-Conference | 0.5 |
| Winning Team | 1 | |||
| 1957 | High School | East | First Team All-Conference | 2 |
| Winning Team | 1 | |||
| All-State | 1 | |||
| 1959 | College | Wisconsin | Freshman on Power 5 Team | 2 |
| 1960 | College | Wisconsin | Letter Winner on Power 5 Team | 4 |
| Starter | 1 | |||
| 1961 | College | Wisconsin | Letter Winner on Power 5 Team | 4 |
| Starter | 1 | |||
| Winning Team | 1 | |||
| 1962 | College | Wisconsin | Letter Winner on Power 5 Team | 4 |
| Starter | 1 | |||
| All-Big 10 | 1 | |||
| Winning Team | 1 | |||
| Rose Bowl | 1 | |||
| 1963 | AFL | Buffalo | Signed Pro Contract | 1 |
| Total | 27.5 | |||
NIC-10's 100 Greatest Football Players
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