Donald Williams "Jiggs" Peterson D.D.S. (April 26, 1928 – July 20, 2010) was an

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

player. He played college football for the

University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

from 1948 to 1951 and was selected as the Most Valuable Player of the

1951 Michigan Wolverines football team The 1951 Michigan Wolverines football team was an American football team that represented the University of Michigan in the 1951 Big Ten Conference football season. In its fourth year under head coach Bennie Oosterbaan, Michigan compiled a 4–5 ...

Biography

Born in 1928 in St. Louis, Mo., the son of Lyda and Russell Peterson. In his youth, his family moved to Racine, WI. He attended St. Catherine's High School and played football for the undefeated Angel's championship football team in 1945. After graduating, Don enlisted in the U. S. Army and served in Japan, where he organized sports activities for U. S. troops after World War II. After returning, he accepted a scholarship to play football for the University of Michigan, and played football for the

Michigan Wolverines football The Michigan Wolverines football team represents the University of Michigan in college football at the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision level. Michigan has the most all-time wins in college football history. The team is known for its ...

team from 1948 to 1951. He played in the

1951 Rose Bowl The 1951 Rose Bowl was the 37th edition of the college football bowl game, played at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California on Monday, January 1. The ninth-ranked Michigan Wolverines, champions of the Big Ten Conference, defeated the California Go ...

game and finished the 1951 season as the fourth leading ground gamer in the

Big Ten Conference The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference) is the oldest Division I collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representati ...

. During the 1951 season, he scored two touchdowns against Iowa and rushed for a career-high 104 yards against Illinois. In his final game for Michigan, Peterson rushed for 70 yards and scored the only touchdown in a 7–0 win over

Ohio State The Ohio State University, commonly called Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. A member of the University System of Ohio, it has been ranked by major institutional rankings among the best public ...

. At the end of the 1951 season, he was selected as the Most Valuable Player on the

and selected to play in the 1951 Blue/Grey All-Star Classic . After graduating with honors with a major in zoology, he went on to graduate from the University of Michigan, School of Dentistry. His older brother, Tom Peterson, played fullback for Michigan in 1944–1949. Don was selected by the

Green Bay Packers The Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. It ...

in the 17th round (196th overall pick) of the

1952 NFL Draft The 1952 National Football League Draft was held on January 17, 1952, at Hotel Statler in New York. Selections made by New York Yanks were assigned to the new Dallas Texans. This was the sixth year that the first overall pick was a bonus pick de ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Peterson, Don 1928 births 2010 deaths Players of American football from Racine, Wisconsin American football fullbacks American football halfbacks Michigan Wolverines football players