Wayland Herman Becker (November 2, 1910 – December 1, 1984) 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 wi ...

player. He played in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

(NFL) for six seasons.

Early life

Becker was born in Soperton, Wisconsin, and attended East High School in Green Bay, Wisconsin. While in high school, he twice led his football team to Fox River Valley conference championships, in 1928 and 1929. Becker went on to attend

Marquette University Marquette University () is a private Jesuit research university in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Established by the Society of Jesus as Marquette College on August 28, 1881, it was founded by John Martin Henni, the first Bishop of the diocese of M ...

, where he played football and basketball,

lettering Lettering is an umbrella term that covers the art of drawing letters, instead of simply writing them. Lettering is considered an art form, where each letter in a phrase or quote acts as an illustration. Each letter is created with attention to de ...

twice.

Football career

Becker began his NFL career with the George Halas's Chicago Bears in 1934. He played just two games for the Bears before completing the 1934 season with the Brooklyn Dodgers, with whom he stayed through the 1935 season. In 1936 Becker went to the Green Bay Packers, where he spent the next three seasons. Those Packers teams played in the

NFL Championship Game Throughout its history, the National Football League (NFL) and other rival American football leagues have used several different formats to determine their league champions, including a period of inter-league matchups to determine a true national c ...

twice during his tenure, winning in

1936 Events January–February * January 20 – George V of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions and Emperor of India, dies at his Sandringham Estate. The Prince of Wales succeeds to the throne of the United Kingdom as King E ...

and losing in 1938. He finished his NFL career in 1939 with the Pittsburgh Pirates. He was released by the Pirates after two games. In 1941 he turned up on the

Columbus Bullies The Columbus Bullies were a professional football team founded by Phil H. Bucklew in Columbus, Ohio in 1938. The Bullies started out as a member of the American Professional Football Association (APFA) in 1939. Later, in 1940, the Bullies joined ...

of the American Football League. The team won the AFL championship and Becker was named by the league's coaches as second-team All-League based on his performance that season.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Becker, Wayland 1910 births 1984 deaths American football defensive ends American football wide receivers Chicago Bears players Brooklyn Dodgers (NFL) players Green Bay Packers players Pittsburgh Pirates (football) players Columbus Bullies players Marquette Golden Avalanche football players Marquette Golden Eagles men's basketball players People from Forest County, Wisconsin People from Shawano County, Wisconsin Players of American football from Wisconsin People from Lena, Wisconsin American men's basketball players Green Bay East High School alumni