No. 27 — Jamar Fletcher, Football
On defense, one could consider the secondary one area that UW hasn’t really struggled with since the arrival of Barry Alavrez. Since 1990, 11 defensive backs have been named firs team All-Big Ten from the University of Wisconsin football program. Those 11 players have represented 18 different times for a Badger defensive back to be on a first team All-Big Ten list.
However, just one of those 11 players made it on the list three times during his career. Of course, that name is Jamar Fletcher. He was named to the first team in 1998, 1999 and 2000, but the honors weren’t done there. Fletcher was also a two-time first team All-American selection in 1999 and 2000 and swept national and conference awards in 2000.
Fletcher was named the 2000 Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year, became the only Badger to win the Thorpe Award and also went on to win the Jack Tatum Trophy as well. Why though?
That 2000 season was one of the more magical efforts from any cornerback in UW history. Fletcher finished the season with his third straight year of seven interceptions (with all three ranking tied for third in single season INT records), had the most INT return yardage in history of UW football (179), had the second best passes defensed mark in school history at the time (21, which was only bested by teammate Mike Echols that same season) and his 87-yard INT return for a touchdown against Indiana that season is the fourth longest in Badger football history.
He ended his career on a high note, with UW winning back-to-back Rose Bowls and having a ton of records with his name next to them. Chief amongst them is he is the career leader in interceptions (21 — tied with Jim Leonhard after he set it). Also on the list is highest interception return total for a season (179 in 2000) and most interceptions returned for a touchdown (3 in 1998).
While the top of the list is only occupied by Fletcher in a few categories, he currently stands the test of time as he ranks second in passes defensed (57) and third in pass breakups (36).
Even crazier is the fact that most of the three seasons he spent at UW all rank inside the top 10 in just about every category that matters to a cornerback. All three years are in the top 10 of single season records for interceptions, passes defensed and two of his three seasons (2000 and 1998) rank inside the top 10 of pass breakups as well.
Fletcher went on to be a 1st round draft pick of the Miami Dolphins in 2001, but lasted just three years with the Dolphins and bounced around the league until his career ended in 2009 with the Cincinnati Bengals.
While that wasn’t what most expected after Fletcher’s stellar career at UW, we’re not here to judge on the aftermath of his athletic and academic career at Wisconsin. There’s little doubt that Fletcher is in the conversation for the greatest cornerback, let alone defensive back to play at Wisconsin.
Full 50 Greatest Badgers List:
No. 50 – Randy Jablonic
No. 49 – Alex Rigsby
No. 48 — Michael Lihrman
No. 47 — Howard “Cub” Buck
No. 46 — Don Davey
No. 45 — Pat O’Dea
No. 44 — Curtis Joseph
No. 43 — Dean Anderson
No. 42 — Ivy Martin
No. 41 — Ron Vander Kelen
No. 40 — Carly Piper
No. 39 — J.J. Watt
No. 38 — Joe Pavelski
No. 37 — Barb Franke
No. 36 — Dick Cable
No. 35 — Sam Dekker
No. 34 — Jolene Anderson
No. 33 — Paul Gruber
No. 32 — Mark Johnson
No. 31 — Chris Borland
No. 30 — Lisa Boyd
No. 29 — Lee Evans
No. 28 — Tony Granato
Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!
