Robert Wahl
Encyclopedia
Robert Allen "Al" Wahl nicknamed "Brick" Wahl, is a former football
player who was a two-time All-American for the University of Michigan
Wolverines
in 1949 and 1950. Wahl is also a former U.S. Army
heavyweight
boxing
champion (European theater
) who went on to become the president of a Fortune 500
company, Valmont Industries
.
and played for the Wolverines as a freshman in 1945. He played as a 17-year old under wartime rules but injuries handicapped him. One news report noted: "A 17-year-old lad with a great high school reputation he was touted as a regular starter before the '45 season opened. But an ankle injury sidelined him and it also shook his confidence."
Wahl missed the 1946 and 1947 seasons due to service in the U.S. Army in Germany
. While serving in the Army, Wahl became the Army's heavyweight boxing champion in occupied Germany with 14 knockout
s in 17 bouts. Wahl said he took up boxing to keep in shape and found that boxing "not only developed him physically, but it gave him the quickness with his hands and taught him footwork."
that won the National Championship. In Bennie Oosterbaan
's first year as head coach, the Wolverines outscored their opponents, 252-44.
getting the nod at left tackle. With Wahl and Wistert leading the way, the 1949 Wolverines went 6-2-1, finished in a tie for the Big Ten Conference football championship, and were ranked #2 in the final Associated Press
poll.
The 1950 Michigan yearbook, called the Michiganensian, had a full-page profile of Wahl and noted: "Two years of steady performance as one of the nation's outstanding tackles paid off in All-American honors for Al 'Brick' Wahl last season. Captain elect of the '50 squad, the 215-pounder lifted the Wolverines out of their mid-season slump in the upset over Minnesota. He was brilliant in the closing battle with the Buckeye's, a 7-7 game that tied the Maize and Blue for the Big Ten championship."
, defeating the University of California
, 14-6. The Wolverines had failed to score at half-time when press accounts following the game reported that Wahl's halftime speech inspired the team: "Giant Al Wahl, a 220 pound tackle who played a whale of a game on the field, was credited today with providing the spark that won the Rose Bowl game for Michigan ... Badly battered through the first half and trailing the California Bears, 6-0, at the intermission, team captain Wahl stood before his mates as they rested at halftime and told them of Michigan's winning tradition." Coach Oosterbaan noted that he didn't say anything at halftime: "Al Wahl did it for us." The speech apparently worked, as Michigan scored 14 points in the second half and held the Bears scoreless.
on November 25, 1950. The Snow Bowl was played in Columbus
in a blizzard, at 10 degrees above zero, on an icy field, and with wind gusting over 30 miles per hour. Michigan defeated the Buckeyes without gaining a single first down or completing a pass, and despite punting 24 times and gaining 27 yards of total offense. Both Michigan scores came off blocked punts, one resulting in a safety and the other in a touchdown. Wahl was responsible for the safety, blocking a punt by OSU's Heisman Trophy
winner Vic Janowicz
. The Michigan Daily
reported the next day on Wahl's block: "In tallying the safety it was Michigan's captain Al Wahl, who crashed in Janowicz' well-exercised kicking leg. The ball bounced erratically to the right of the onrushing Maize and Blue lineman and was floundering less than a foot outside the end zone border when speedy Al Jackson caught up with it. Six inches closer and the Wolverines could have added six more points."
Between 1948 and 1950, Wahl played for teams that won three consecutive Big Ten Conference football championships and had a record of 21-5-2.
Wahl was selected by the Chicago Bears
in the 1951 NFL
Draft but opted for two more years of Army service upon graduation. A 1951 newspaper account reported on Wahl's return to the Army: "Al Wahl, captain of the 1950 University of Michigan football team, has been called for Army service early next month ... Wahl, who comes from Oak Park, Ill. is the second ex-Wolverine grid start to be called by the Army."
published an article about Wahl's recovery of an inscribed watch that was a memento of Michigan's victory in the 1951 Rose Bowl. Wahl reported that he lost the watch during a street fight in Chicago in 1953, while he was running an Army prison at Fort Sheridan, Illinois
. He said: "We got into a little fight. I didn't miss the watch until I was back in the car and headed to the fort." Asked who won the fight, Wahl said: "I'd like to think we did. During my time in the Army, I was also the European golden gloves heavyweight champ." A local newspaper in Missouri
tracked down Wahl through the University of Michigan alumni office. The newspaper found that Wahl worked for Valmont Industries
in Omaha, Nebraska
and called the company. The reporter asked: "Do you have a Mr. Wahl working there and would it be possible for him to come to the phone?" "I suppose so," the secretary said. "He's the president."
, a company that manufactures irrigation equipment. He joined the company in 1965 as a vice president of marketing and was named president of the company in 1977. He served as the company's president and chief operating officer until 1985, and helped build it into a Fortune 500
company. In 1987, Wahl acquired a $60-million sales distribution company serving a 20-state market. After restructuring the company and making strategic acquisitions, he negotiated a sale of the company to a British conglomerate.
Since 1991, Wahl has been an independent consultant. He also served as an Executive Vice President of DreamScape Development Group, Inc., a group involved in the development of the Las Vegas
Domed Stadium Project, a proposed 80,000 seat domed sports stadium.
Since 1997, Wahl has been an independent business consultant and director of Phazar Corp., a company in Mineral Wells, Texas
that makes antennas, wireless mesh network solutions and other products.
American football
American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...
player who was a two-time All-American for the University of Michigan
University of Michigan
The University of Michigan is a public research university located in Ann Arbor, Michigan in the United States. It is the state's oldest university and the flagship campus of the University of Michigan...
Wolverines
Michigan Wolverines
The Michigan Wolverines comprise 27 varsity sports teams at the University of Michigan. These teams compete in the NCAA's Division I and in the Big Ten Conference in all sports except men's ice hockey which competes in the NCAA D1 Central Collegiate Hockey Association, and women's water polo, which...
in 1949 and 1950. Wahl is also a former U.S. Army
United States Army
The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...
heavyweight
Heavyweight
Heavyweight is a division, or weight class, in boxing. Fighters who weigh over 200 pounds are considered heavyweights by the major professional boxing organizations: the International Boxing Federation, the World Boxing Association, the World Boxing Council, and the World Boxing...
boxing
Boxing
Boxing, also called pugilism, is a combat sport in which two people fight each other using their fists. Boxing is supervised by a referee over a series of between one to three minute intervals called rounds...
champion (European theater
European Theatre of World War II
The European Theatre of World War II was a huge area of heavy fighting across Europe from Germany's invasion of Poland on September 1, 1939 until the end of the war with the German unconditional surrender on May 8, 1945...
) who went on to become the president of a Fortune 500
Fortune 500
The Fortune 500 is an annual list compiled and published by Fortune magazine that ranks the top 500 U.S. closely held and public corporations as ranked by their gross revenue after adjustments made by Fortune to exclude the impact of excise taxes companies collect. The list includes publicly and...
company, Valmont Industries
Valmont Industries
Valmont Industries, Inc. is a large, publicly-held American manufacturer of Valley center pivot and linear irrigation equipment, windmill support structures, lighting & traffic poles and steel utility poles....
.
Freshman year and military service
Wahl went to high school in Oak Park, IllinoisOak Park, Illinois
Oak Park, Illinois is a suburb bordering the west side of the city of Chicago in Cook County, Illinois, United States. It is the twenty-fifth largest municipality in Illinois. Oak Park has easy access to downtown Chicago due to public transportation such as the Chicago 'L' Blue and Green lines,...
and played for the Wolverines as a freshman in 1945. He played as a 17-year old under wartime rules but injuries handicapped him. One news report noted: "A 17-year-old lad with a great high school reputation he was touted as a regular starter before the '45 season opened. But an ankle injury sidelined him and it also shook his confidence."
Wahl missed the 1946 and 1947 seasons due to service in the U.S. Army in Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
. While serving in the Army, Wahl became the Army's heavyweight boxing champion in occupied Germany with 14 knockout
Knockout
A knockout is a fight-ending, winning criterion in several full-contact combat sports, such as boxing, kickboxing, Muay Thai, mixed martial arts, Karate and others sports involving striking...
s in 17 bouts. Wahl said he took up boxing to keep in shape and found that boxing "not only developed him physically, but it gave him the quickness with his hands and taught him footwork."
1948 season
As a sophomore, Wahl played for the undefeated 1948 Michigan Wolverines team1948 Michigan Wolverines football team
The 1948 Michigan Wolverines football team represented the University of Michigan during the 1948 college football season. The team's head coach was Bennie Oosterbaan. The Wolverines played their home games at Michigan Stadium.-Schedule:...
that won the National Championship. In Bennie Oosterbaan
Bennie Oosterbaan
Benjamin Gaylord "Bennie" Oosterbaan was a three-time first team All-American football end for the Michigan Wolverines football team, two-time All-American basketball player for the basketball team and an All-Big Ten Conference baseball player for the baseball team...
's first year as head coach, the Wolverines outscored their opponents, 252-44.
1949 season
In 1949, Michigan had two All-Americans at tackle, with Wahl being named All-American at right tackle and teammate Alvin WistertAlvin Wistert
Alvin Lawrence "Moose" Wistert was an American football player. A native of Chicago, Illinois, he played college football at the tackle position for Boston University in 1946 and at the University of Michigan from 1947 to 1949...
getting the nod at left tackle. With Wahl and Wistert leading the way, the 1949 Wolverines went 6-2-1, finished in a tie for the Big Ten Conference football championship, and were ranked #2 in the final Associated Press
Associated Press
The Associated Press is an American news agency. The AP is a cooperative owned by its contributing newspapers, radio and television stations in the United States, which both contribute stories to the AP and use material written by its staff journalists...
poll.
The 1950 Michigan yearbook, called the Michiganensian, had a full-page profile of Wahl and noted: "Two years of steady performance as one of the nation's outstanding tackles paid off in All-American honors for Al 'Brick' Wahl last season. Captain elect of the '50 squad, the 215-pounder lifted the Wolverines out of their mid-season slump in the upset over Minnesota. He was brilliant in the closing battle with the Buckeye's, a 7-7 game that tied the Maize and Blue for the Big Ten championship."
1950 season and Rose Bowl
As a senior in 1950, Wahl was named team captain and was the Wolverines' lone All-American selection. The team won the Big Ten championship and played in the 1951 Rose Bowl1951 Rose Bowl
The 1951 Rose Bowl was a college football bowl game played on January 1, 1951. It was the 37th Rose Bowl Game. The Michigan Wolverines, champions of the Big Ten Conference, defeated the California Golden Bears, champions of the Pacific Coast Conference, 14–6. Michigan fullback Don Dufek was...
, defeating the University of California
University of California
The University of California is a public university system in the U.S. state of California. Under the California Master Plan for Higher Education, the University of California is a part of the state's three-tier public higher education system, which also includes the California State University...
, 14-6. The Wolverines had failed to score at half-time when press accounts following the game reported that Wahl's halftime speech inspired the team: "Giant Al Wahl, a 220 pound tackle who played a whale of a game on the field, was credited today with providing the spark that won the Rose Bowl game for Michigan ... Badly battered through the first half and trailing the California Bears, 6-0, at the intermission, team captain Wahl stood before his mates as they rested at halftime and told them of Michigan's winning tradition." Coach Oosterbaan noted that he didn't say anything at halftime: "Al Wahl did it for us." The speech apparently worked, as Michigan scored 14 points in the second half and held the Bears scoreless.
A key blocked punt in the "Snow Bowl"
In the 1950 season, Wahl played a key role in the famed Snow Bowl game against Ohio StateOhio State Buckeyes football
The Ohio State Buckeyes football team is an intercollegiate varsity sports team of The Ohio State University. The team is a member of the Big Ten Conference of the NCAA, playing at the Division I Football Bowl Subdivision, formerly Division I-A, level. The team nickname is derived from the state...
on November 25, 1950. The Snow Bowl was played in Columbus
Columbus, Ohio
Columbus is the capital of and the largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio. The broader metropolitan area encompasses several counties and is the third largest in Ohio behind those of Cleveland and Cincinnati. Columbus is the third largest city in the American Midwest, and the fifteenth largest city...
in a blizzard, at 10 degrees above zero, on an icy field, and with wind gusting over 30 miles per hour. Michigan defeated the Buckeyes without gaining a single first down or completing a pass, and despite punting 24 times and gaining 27 yards of total offense. Both Michigan scores came off blocked punts, one resulting in a safety and the other in a touchdown. Wahl was responsible for the safety, blocking a punt by OSU's Heisman Trophy
Heisman Trophy
The Heisman Memorial Trophy Award , is awarded annually to the player deemed the most outstanding player in collegiate football. It was created in 1935 as the Downtown Athletic Club trophy and renamed in 1936 following the death of the Club's athletic director, John Heisman The Heisman Memorial...
winner Vic Janowicz
Vic Janowicz
Victor Felix "Vic" Janowicz was an American football halfback in the National Football League for the Washington Redskins. He played college football at Ohio State University and was drafted in the seventh round of the 1952 NFL Draft...
. The Michigan Daily
Michigan Daily
The Michigan Daily is the daily student newspaper of the University of Michigan. Its first edition was published on September 29, 1890. The newspaper is financially and editorially independent of the University's administration and other student groups, but shares a university building with other...
reported the next day on Wahl's block: "In tallying the safety it was Michigan's captain Al Wahl, who crashed in Janowicz' well-exercised kicking leg. The ball bounced erratically to the right of the onrushing Maize and Blue lineman and was floundering less than a foot outside the end zone border when speedy Al Jackson caught up with it. Six inches closer and the Wolverines could have added six more points."
Three straight championships and the NFL Draft
Wahl also played in the 1951 All-Star Game.Between 1948 and 1950, Wahl played for teams that won three consecutive Big Ten Conference football championships and had a record of 21-5-2.
Wahl was selected by the Chicago Bears
Chicago Bears
The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago, Illinois. They are members of the North Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League...
in the 1951 NFL
National Football League
The National Football League is the highest level of professional American football in the United States, and is considered the top professional American football league in the world. It was formed by eleven teams in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association, with the league changing...
Draft but opted for two more years of Army service upon graduation. A 1951 newspaper account reported on Wahl's return to the Army: "Al Wahl, captain of the 1950 University of Michigan football team, has been called for Army service early next month ... Wahl, who comes from Oak Park, Ill. is the second ex-Wolverine grid start to be called by the Army."
A recovered memento
In 1981, The New York TimesThe New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
published an article about Wahl's recovery of an inscribed watch that was a memento of Michigan's victory in the 1951 Rose Bowl. Wahl reported that he lost the watch during a street fight in Chicago in 1953, while he was running an Army prison at Fort Sheridan, Illinois
Fort Sheridan, Illinois
Fort Sheridan is a residential neighborhood spread among Lake Forest, Highwood, and Highland Park in Lake County, Illinois, United States. It was originally established as a United States Army Post named after Civil War Cavalry General Philip Sheridan, to honor his services to Chicago...
. He said: "We got into a little fight. I didn't miss the watch until I was back in the car and headed to the fort." Asked who won the fight, Wahl said: "I'd like to think we did. During my time in the Army, I was also the European golden gloves heavyweight champ." A local newspaper in Missouri
Missouri
Missouri is a US state located in the Midwestern United States, bordered by Iowa, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska. With a 2010 population of 5,988,927, Missouri is the 18th most populous state in the nation and the fifth most populous in the Midwest. It...
tracked down Wahl through the University of Michigan alumni office. The newspaper found that Wahl worked for Valmont Industries
Valmont Industries
Valmont Industries, Inc. is a large, publicly-held American manufacturer of Valley center pivot and linear irrigation equipment, windmill support structures, lighting & traffic poles and steel utility poles....
in Omaha, Nebraska
Omaha, Nebraska
Omaha is the largest city in the state of Nebraska, United States, and is the county seat of Douglas County. It is located in the Midwestern United States on the Missouri River, about 20 miles north of the mouth of the Platte River...
and called the company. The reporter asked: "Do you have a Mr. Wahl working there and would it be possible for him to come to the phone?" "I suppose so," the secretary said. "He's the president."
Honors and awards
In 2004, Wahl was inducted into the University of Michigan's Hall of Honor. In 2005, Wahl was selected as one of the 100 greatest Michigan football players of all time by the "Motown Sports Revival," ranking 32nd on the all-time team.Business career
Wahl spent twenty years with Valmont IndustriesValmont Industries
Valmont Industries, Inc. is a large, publicly-held American manufacturer of Valley center pivot and linear irrigation equipment, windmill support structures, lighting & traffic poles and steel utility poles....
, a company that manufactures irrigation equipment. He joined the company in 1965 as a vice president of marketing and was named president of the company in 1977. He served as the company's president and chief operating officer until 1985, and helped build it into a Fortune 500
Fortune 500
The Fortune 500 is an annual list compiled and published by Fortune magazine that ranks the top 500 U.S. closely held and public corporations as ranked by their gross revenue after adjustments made by Fortune to exclude the impact of excise taxes companies collect. The list includes publicly and...
company. In 1987, Wahl acquired a $60-million sales distribution company serving a 20-state market. After restructuring the company and making strategic acquisitions, he negotiated a sale of the company to a British conglomerate.
Since 1991, Wahl has been an independent consultant. He also served as an Executive Vice President of DreamScape Development Group, Inc., a group involved in the development of the Las Vegas
Las Vegas, Nevada
Las Vegas is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and is also the county seat of Clark County, Nevada. Las Vegas is an internationally renowned major resort city for gambling, shopping, and fine dining. The city bills itself as The Entertainment Capital of the World, and is famous...
Domed Stadium Project, a proposed 80,000 seat domed sports stadium.
Since 1997, Wahl has been an independent business consultant and director of Phazar Corp., a company in Mineral Wells, Texas
Mineral Wells, Texas
Mineral Wells is a city in Palo Pinto and Parker counties in the U.S. state of Texas. The population was 16,946 at the 2000 census. The city is named for mineral springs in the area, which were highly popular in the early 1900s...
that makes antennas, wireless mesh network solutions and other products.
See also
- 1950 Michigan Wolverines football team1950 Michigan Wolverines football teamThe 1950 Michigan Wolverines football team, coached by Bennie Oosterbaan, won the Big Ten Conference championship with a record of 6–3–1 and defeated the California Bears in the 1951 Rose Bowl, 14–6. The team had two All-Big 10 backs in Don Dufek and Chuck Ortmann and All-American tackle R. Allen...
- University of Michigan Athletic Hall of HonorUniversity of Michigan Athletic Hall of HonorThe University of Michigan Athletic Hall of Honor, founded in 1978, recognizes University of Michigan athletes, coaches, and administrators who have made significant contributions to the university's athletic programs...