Since November 13, 1999, whenever Wisconsin fans walked into Camp Randall Stadium, they could count on seeing one thing.

35 AMECHE

CAMP RANDALL STADIUM

33 DAYNE

Stretching across the Camp Randall façade always was the title of the UW's Big Red House and the names of the two Heisman Trophy winners that helped put it on the map in two separate eras.

However, when Badger fans make their first walk of 2006 through the arch on Dayton and Randall streets, past the turnstiles, through the tunnels and into Camp Randall Stadium on Saturday for the first home game of the season, they will notice something different right away.

The presence of four banners stretching across the stadium's façade, hiding something … Wisconsin's football history.

Move over, Alan. Make room, Ron. You're about to have company. And it's about time.

The University of Wisconsin has decided to honor four names that are as much a part of the story that is Wisconsin football as Ameche, Dayne and Barry Alvarez.

During each Big Ten home game this season, the school will induct one more name onto the stadium's façade to join the Heisman winners.

On Oct. 7, when the Badgers take on Northwestern in their conference home opener, Dave Schreiner and his No. 80 will be recognized. The following week, during the Minnesota game, Allan Shafer's No. 83 will join him.

On Oct. 28, Elroy "Crazy Legs" Hirsch and his No. 40 will have his name added to the display for the contest versus Illinois, and one week later, the No. 88 of Pat Richter will anchor the fall additions, as his name is added when Penn State comes to town.

"We felt that they were part of our tradition and we wanted to continue celebrating those traditions of Wisconsin football that we have been focusing on the past two or three years, and we thought this was a good way to continue that tradition," said Vince Sweeney, UW's senior associate athletic director for external communications, who was intimately involved in the decision to add the Badger greats to the façade. "They are part of the Badger lore and were great athletes in their day. We are just celebrating the contributions they have added to our long history of great football here at Wisconsin."

Hirsch and Richter are personalities that are ingrained into the psyches of all Badger fans both young and old.

The inspiring and moving stories of Schreiner and Shafer, however, are a complete mystery to many Badger fans of the younger generation.

"I've heard a little bit about some of the guys. I know, obviously, some of the more heralded guys [Hirsch and Richter], and I heard one of the guys they're retiring is a kid who actually died playing football, but other than that, not too much," said current UW star left tackle Joe Thomas, illustrating the lack of knowledge on some of Wisconsin football's founding personalities.

Rewarding both players for their contributions to the history of Wisconsin football serves a dual purpose. Not only will it honor their names and their lives, but it will reintroduce them and their story to the Badger faithful, especially to younger UW fans.

"One of the main reasons to do this is that three of these people have their numbers retired already but most people don't even know about it," Sweeney said. "And we thought we should celebrate it, the fact that they have already been honored."

Indeed, Schreiner, along with Shafer and Hirsch, has already had his number retired long ago — in 1945 to be exact.

Wisconsin War Hero

Dave Schreiner was one of the greatest football players ever to set foot onto the Camp Randall turf. Twice, he earned All-American honors at end, played both ways and was eventually a top choice in the NFL Draft.

Midway through his senior season, when he was named the Big Ten's Most Valuable Player, he caught a UW-record 3 touchdown passes in a single quarter, against rival Marquette. Making the feat even more amazing — which speaks to Schreiner's dominance on the field — was the fact that Wisconsin rarely threw the ball at that time. For example, between 1946 and 1948, soon after Schreiner's departure, the leading passers for UW tallied only five passing touchdowns.

But what made Schreiner famous was his beastly blocking up front.

"He was a two-time all-American at end, and in that era, it meant to catch attention like that, he pretty much shut down one side of the line defensively," said Terry Frei, author of the book "Third Down and a War to Go," which documents Schreiner's story along with that of his teammates from the 1942 season.

Schreiner, who was a teammate of Hirsch's, played football at one of the most difficult times in American history: during the onset of World War II.

Long before the United States ever entered the war, when Schreiner was still in high school, the soon-to-be Wisconsin icon had thoughts of joining the armed forces to combat what he saw as a national, and maybe even global, threat from the Nazis.

"He was fooling around with the idea, even before Pearl Harbor, of dropping out of school and becoming a naval pilot, because he said it was critical to stop Hitler," Frei said.

Schreiner left a potential life of luxury, or at least comfort, behind and voluntarily joined the Marines, after failing to become a naval pilot due to color blindness.

"He tried to becoming a flyer, but his color blindness scuttled that, and he drank all kinds of curatives to try and pass the test, but he couldn't, so he ended up with the Marines," Frei related.

The two-time all-American and No. 11 overall NFL draft choice, he disdained the idea of getting a comfortable job and went straight into officer training school, where he became a lieutenant and was soon sent off to wage war in the Pacific.

Schreiner was wounded in Guam, but that didn't send him home. Soon thereafter, on the island of Okinawa, Schreiner was killed in the very final hours of the battle, and according to Frei, was probably ambushed in a fake Japanese surrender.

The amazing story of patriotism and sacrifice that follows Schreiner makes his name on the wall especially meaningful, as he isn't just representing himself, but all the fallen UW alums from World War II.

"He will be up there on two different levels. [He stands for] what he alone did and what he represents as a great football player and a great young man, but also he stands to represent his teammates and his generation," Frei explained. "I look at it like Dave Schreiner was the team co-captain and on that wall he will be the captain of multiple thousands of Wisconsin students of his generation who went and served in World War II. I think if he's listening to me now he's nodding his head in agreement that he is representing a whole lot of people when his name adorns Camp Randall.

"I felt that he was both overdue and well-deserved."

While Schreiner died in battle overseas, Allan Shafer died on the field of play. During a hard-fought conference match-up against Iowa, the freshman quarterback suffered a severe injury. Just hours later, he died in a Madison-area hospital from pulmonary edema, a hemorrhage of the lungs. He was only 17 years old.

His number was almost immediately retired out of respect for the tragedy.

Crazy Legs

While contemporary fans might not know or understand the impact of Schreiner and Shafer, today's fans are completely aware of the accomplishments of Elroy "Crazy Legs" Hirsch and Pat Richter.

Hirsch only played one season at Wisconsin, playing with Schreiner on the great 1942 team that finished 3rd in the AP standings, behind an Ohio State team at No. 1 that they defeated.

Hirsch went on to revolutionize the NFL game for the Los Angeles Rams, collecting 17 touchdown passes in a single season.

But his greatest work for UW was as athletic director, a post he held from 1969 to 1987, where he helped drag the school back to greatness as a very active member in the Badger community, prompting Barry Alvarez to proclaim him the "most loved and influential ambassador for Badger sports."

"Elroy, of course, there is only one," Richter said of his former colleague. "Nationally, internationally, he is his own figure. 'Crazy Legs' Hirsch is just synonymous with professional football, or college football.

"Ironically, he was only here for one year from a football standpoint, but certainly as athletic director he was very visible and was a very important part of getting Wisconsin back on track."

Turning things around

Richter, the only member of the group who currently does not have his number retired, is remembered as the man who, along with Alvarez, rescued Wisconsin athletics. It is his appreciation for UW sports as a whole that makes him proud not to be inducted himself, but to be inducted with the group of Badger legends.

"To me, it's a very special thing to have happen, given the others that have had their numbers retired," Richter said. "They all have had a very special place in Wisconsin history and so to be in that company is a great honor."

Richter took over as athletic director in 1989 and stayed on until he was succeeded by Alvarez in 2004. When he first took the job, the former letter-winner in football, basketball and baseball inherited a program that was over a million dollars in debt. When he left, Camp Randall Stadium was finishing up a $100-plus million renovation. Simply stated, he turned the department around and brought pride back to the program.

For his part, he is just happy to enjoy the fruits of his labor and the upcoming celebration.

"I've always been a big believer that it is obviously very nice to have these things happen while you're still around to enjoy it," Richter stated. "Those others who are up there are no longer around to enjoy it, and that is unfortunate."

Richter is excited about many facets of the upcoming ceremony, and he remembers fondly when Ron Dayne received the same honor in 1999.

"I was part of when we did it for Ron Dayne, and we did it for the game after he broke the record," Richter recalled. "I was standing right next to him, and then all of sudden, 'poof,' there it is: the name, the number. And to see just how pleased he was for that to happen, certainly was largely daunting.

"Just being in front of the big crowd at Camp Randall, which should be there for the Penn State game, should be a lot of fun."

The memories live on

With their enshrinement in Camp Randall, many of the untold stories surrounding these Badger legends will be told, both now and forever, as they physically become part of the program that they have come to define spiritually over the course of their lives.

"When you can elbow the person next to you and say, 'Let me tell you about Dave Schreiner,' I think that is an important contribution," Frei said. "When that happens when his name is put up there, I think that is an important facet of this honor."

With the constant reminder at Camp Randall, these UW legends will never be forgotten, and now their fantastic stories will live on beyond their mortality.

"Something is going to be at that stadium long after you are gone," Richter said. "And so it is part of that tradition. So it is very, very rewarding and humbling."